E 729 
.048 
Copy 1 




Class_„ Z 7 
Book '_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




WM. H. OLIVER, JR. 



ROUGHING IT 



WITH THE 



REGULARS. 



BY 

WM. H. OLIVER, Jr., 

LATE TROOP "A," FIFTH U. S. REGULAR CAVALRY. 



PUBLISHED BY 

WILLIAM F. PARR, PRINTER, 

29 WEST 125TH STREET, 

NEW YORK, N. Y. 



CONGRESS. 
One C«pv Received 

»UL. 28 1902 

CLASS 0^ xXc N«. 

C| ej o t> 
COFY *. 



COPYRIGHTED 19OI. 









6 






to mv mother. 

"Happy he 
With such a mother ! faith in womankind 
Beats with his blood, and trust in all things high 
Comes easy to him, and though he trip and fall, 
We shall not blind his soul with clay." 

— Tennyson. 



IHTHODUCTIOH- 

The Volunteer has been the recipient of so much 
eulogy, and so much has been written in relation to his 
virtues, sufferings and heroism, that I deem it only fair 
to ask him to share with his brother-at-arms, the Regular, 
a portion of the sweet smiles that have been bestowed on 
him by a fair minded and liberty loving people. 

This book is written for the purpose of telling the story 
of the faithful service of a troop of regular cavalry in 
Puerto Rico, and the experience of a raw recruit who finally 
graduated as one of Uncle Sam's professional fighting 
machines. 

The Eleventh U. S. Infantry, Light Battery "D" Fifth 
Artillery, Light Battery "C" Third Artillery and Troop 
"A" Fifth U. S. Cavalry, composed the Independent 
Regular Brigade commanded by Brigadier- General Theodore 
Schwan. This constituted the western army of invasion 
in Puerto Rico and participated in two engagements and 
one skirmish, routing the enemy in each instance. 

As there was no regiment of Volunteers in the Brigade, 
no newspaper correspondents accompanied it; and, conse- 
quently, the achievements of this column were not chron- 
icled in the press of the day; and in justice to my comrades, 
and in recognition of their patriotism, I present this volume 
which I hope will prove interesting to the reader. 

— Wm. H. Oliver, Jr. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE REGULAR. 

Is he ready ? Well, I guess, sir, 

You can count on him, you bet, 
Whene'er a war is threatening 

He is here and there; but yet 
No literary mortal, 

No author or no scribe 
Has given him fair justice 

Which is his, and then beside — 
Oh, bosh, what's the use of talking, 

What can I say or do ? 
But leave the judgment of his virtues — 

His vices — now, to you, 

— Wm. H. Oliver, Jr. 

At the time that the Spanish- American War commenced, 
I, like many other young fellows whose souls were fired to 
a white heat by the suffering of the Cubans, and a belief in 
Spanish treachery regarding the Maine, dropped book and 
pen and was ready for deeds of " derring do." With an 
ancestry of fighting men in every generation since before 
the days of the French and Indian Wars, I had feared that 
my chance to carry on the family tradition would never 
come and how gladly I welcomed this opportunity. The 
only condition made by my father, who had been a cavalry 
officer in the Civil War, was, that I should enter the 
regular sendee, knowing that the officers were men who 
had received special training in their profession and were 
best calculated to take proper care of their commands. 



6 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

On the morning of June 14, 1898, I enlisted in the 
regular sendee under the provisions of the Hull Bill. 
This bill allowed each man, whose enlistment was governed 
by it, the privilege of applying for his discharge upon the 
declaration of peace or at the expiration of three years. 

While reflecting upon my enlistment and hardly realizing 
what it all meant, I became conscious that a young Jewish 
fellow was intently watching me. He seemed both per- 
plexed and excited, not knowing into which branch of the 
service he desired to enter. I told him that the cavalry 
was my choice as my father had served through the Civil 
War as a cavalry officer and desired that I enter this arm 
of the service also. Finally a cavalry corporal standing 
near, overhearing our conversation as to the relative merits 
of the different arms, imparted the not very encouraging 
information, in a gruff tone, "That if we wished to be 
killed, the cavalry branch was as good as any to experiment 
with." 

This decided the question for my newly found bunkie 
that was to be, whose name was Joseph Seigel. From that 
hour we were as intimate as if our friendship had been of 
years' duration. He had such a manly, straightforward way 
that it was impossible to resist him; and I was not mistaken 
in my judgment of him. In the days to come he was more 
than brother to me. Friendship like this is unusual, except- 
ing where both have undergone the same hardships, priva- 
tions and excitement of a soldier in active campaigning. 

At noon, on the day of my enlistment, my father and I 
ate dinner at a well-known restaurant on Broadway. While 
our thoughts were anything but cheerful, we endeavored to 
laugh and divert each other from the separation that might 
be forever. One of the topics alluded to, was the improb- 
ability of my soon eating such a fine dinner as I was then 
enjoying; I had a faint idea that Uncle Sam was not 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 7 

accustomed to feeding his charges on course dinners; but I 
was rather premature in presuming, for all of the dinners I 
enjoyed under his patronage were certainly "coarse," in- 
cluding also our breakfasts and suppers. My thoughts often 
wandered to that farewell dinner amid its familiar sur- 
roundings and then, with a sigh, I would make a dive for 
the bacon, hardtack and coffee, or perhaps the "slum." 
This edible is a conglomeration of stuff consisting of canned 
roast or corned beef, potatoes, canned tomatoes and onions, 
and when cooked resembles an Irish stew, minus its savory 
palatableness; but then, when a man has ridden in the 
saddle from sunrise to sunset, day after day, he little 
thinks of the quality — but more of the quantity — of food he 
can stow away. After finishing our dinner and a delicious 
old Havana cigar, I went back to the recruiting office and 
was mustered in with my father's consent, being under age 
at that time. 

Most of the recruits were sent to the forts in and around 
New York to receive their accoutrements. The squad of six 
men including myself, who were assigned to the cavalry, 
were detailed to Fort Slocum, David's Island, the enlist- 
ment papers addressed to the Commandant being entrusted 
to me. It would be impossible to describe the so-called 
barracks that we were quartered in that night, and it 
would be unpatriotic to criticise our government for risking 
the lives of its proteges in a building which looked as if 
it would collapse and crush us before morning. From one 
hundred and fifty to two hundred recruits were quartered 
in this building, the majority of whom had been assigned 
to the sea-coast defenses of Massachusetts, Maine and the 
immediate forts around New York. The following morn- 
ing, after a wash under the hydrant and a substantial 
breakfast, we were formed into line and marched to the 
quartermaster's for our uniforms. The heavy winter wear 



8 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

allotted us would have served good purpose in Alaska, 
but in the hot climate, such as we were destined for, 
meant unnecessary suffering and discomfort. That afternoon 
the recruits assigned to the Fifth Cavalry started out to 
join the regiment which was supposed to be in camp at 
Jackson Barracks, New Orleans. Each man carried a 
canteen of coffee and three days' rations of bread and beef. 

Our first halt was at the Army and Navy building in 
New York, where I had been ordered to stop to arrange for 
the transportation of the men, and much to my disgust was 
warned by the paymaster against squandering the munifi- 
cent sum of money allowed us for coffee on anything 
stronger — six cents per day for each man. Everything 
being in readiness we started for the ferry at the foot of 
Whitehall Street, and now our army life had actually 
begun. Many were the glances we cast at beloved old 
New York as we saw it receding in the distance. Arriving 
in Jersey City for the 6 p. m. express of the B. & O. R. R. 
for Cincinnati, we started on our journey south. The trip 
was uneventful except for the glances and questions of the 
curious and the jolts and jars one receives on this road, and 
also for the few glimpses of the beautiful scenery he 
catches of this country when not passing through tunnels. 

At six o'clock the following evening the train pulled into 
Cincinnati. Seigel and I decided to scout around the town 
for a cheap, good restaurant; but not before I had cautioned 
the other fellows that we would leave on the n o'clock 
train that night, and if they were not present the train 
would leave without them, and it would be a case of 
counting the ties to New Orleans. 

A flaring sign over a doorway with the familiar legend, 
"Good Dinner, 15 Cents," attracted our attention, and we 
concluded to test its goodness by a practical demonstration. 
We walked into a large room filled with smoke that escaped 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 9 

from the rear of the place, presumably the kitchen, for the 
incessant clatter of dishes and banging of tin pans indicated 
it as such. We seated ourselves at a table and waited until 
the waiter found us, and after yelling out our order of 
"ham, and two with the sunny sides up," he disappeared 
in the smoke again, presently to return shuffling along 
with both orders on his mighty right arm. Surely that 
fellow had missed his vocation, for a professional juggler 
would have been put to shame could he have seen the 
careless and easy manner in which this waiter balanced a 
goodly portion of a crockery shop on his arm. 

" Say, Will," said Joe, coughing, "I wonder will they 
charge us for the smoke?" 

I said, "I didn't know — that the sign outside did not 
state so." 

After the waiter had arranged the dishes in front of us, 
Joe exclaimed, "I never saw anything like this — fifteen 
cents, for what? — ham and eggs, stewed tomatoes, corn, 
hot biscuits, coffee and pie; I can't believe m)- eyes." The 
room was entirely rid of smoke by the time we had finished 
eating, so we lounged in our chairs, knowing too well that 
it would probably be a long time before we would again 
enjoy the luxury of eating at a table. We were both in a 
talkative and reminiscent mood and were comfortable and 
at ease with the world, as one usually feels after eating a 
hearty meal. Then it was that Joe told me the main facts 
of his checkered career. 

His family had been exiled from Poland when he was a 
mere lad; their estates had been confiscated by the Russian 
government, leaving them destitute and dependent on a 
cruel world. Joe came to this country at the time of the 
exilement, bringing but a small share of the world's riches 
with him. His is the nature to which no obstacle seems 
insurmountable; and from a pedler with a pack on his back, 



10 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

he had educated and raised himself to a splendid position 
with a New York firm, which he occupied at the time of 
his enlistment. When I asked him why he had enlisted, 
he answered with much enthusiasm, "This country has 
given me life, home and liberty. These were denied me in 
poor oppressed Poland. Should I not show niy apprecia- 
tion to a country that has granted me all these privileges, 
with also free thought and speech ? ' ' 

He was so sincere, and the patriotism shown for his land 
of adoption was so intense, that I wondered if I, whose 
ancestors had been Americans for generations, could boast 
of more feeling for my country than this man did. 

It finally occurred to us that we were, perhaps, keeping 
other hungry beings from occupying seats by our pro- 
longed talk, so we roused ourselves, paid for our meal and 
started off to walk around town, finally arriving at the 
depot. We found that about three hundred men, all 
recruits, had arrived since we had left, and such a motley 
crowd it would have been hard to have found elsewhere. 
Most of them were minus some article of apparel, they 
having pawned a coat, or a hat, or even a pair of shoes for 
a little ready money. Half a dozen men were exerting 
their energies in a useless display of authority. Every 
man considered himself the disciplinarian, however, and 
the shouts of derision which greeted these few fellows, who 
were doing their best to restore order, were amusing. 
These recruits were from Milwaukee, Chicago and other 
places in the west. One man in each detachment, like 
myself, had been given charge of the transportation, coffee 
money and enlistment papers, and they were rounding up 
their respective detachments in ' ' cow-puncher-like ' ' fashion 
and finally succeeded in getting them safely corralled in the 
train. As one of the railroad officials said: " they were 
rough riders and no mistake; in fact, the roughest that had 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 11 

ridden down the pike for many moons." These recruits 
were also assigned to the Fifth Cavalry and were on their 
way to Jackson Barracks to receive uniforms and accoutre- 
ments preparatory to joining the regiment. Our train 
consisted of six day coaches, one smoker and two sleepers. 
The latter were for the use of the officers who were hurry- 
ing to join their regiments in the different camps below 
Mason and Dixon's line. All that night we whizzed 
through Ohio and Kentucky. Next morning, every one 
complained of a stiffness from sleeping in the straight 
backed seats with barely enough upholstering to relieve the 
hardness of the wood and iron. At Bowling Green, Ken- 
tucky, the train stopped for ten minutes to allow the usual 
passengers to breakfast, but not the soldiers who were 
feasting upon government "chuck," hard tack, canned 
beef and coffee. 

Having no coffee in my canteen, I stepped off the train 
into the restaurant to have it filled. The waiter, a negro, 
kept me waiting a suspiciously long time for the change of 
a dollar bill I had handed him. It was evidently a game 
of hide-and-seek, for the fellow had disappeared and I 
heard the warning bell and then the creak of the wheels; 
but as I made a bolt for the door, I grabbed a heavy 
platter in one hand and a cup in the other. As I reached 
the door, the negro's face appeared over the top of the 
counter and I then used some forcible language for the 
enlightenment of his soul, threatening him with a crack of 
daylight in his black head, if he did not hand over the 
proper change immediately. My threatening attitude had 
its desired effect and I dropped both dishes and jumped on 
the last car just as the train was leaving the station. The 
journey south at that time of the year was very pleasant. 
We had a chance to see the negroes busy on the plantations 
and in the fields; and last, but not least interesting, were 



12 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

the many groups of cunning little pickaninnies, who would 
alwa}'S stop what they were doir.g, place their arms akimbo 
and look at the train until it was out of sight. One amus- 
ing incident occurred at a stop-over station in Alabama. It 
was noon hour and we were to wait there for fifteen min- 
utes for an express to pass. We tumbled out of the train 
to stretch our legs and incidentally use the station platform 
for a combination table and chair as we enjoyed our mid- 
day meal. While we were laughing and joking over the 
hardness of the hardtack and salubriousness of the canned 
beef (the coffee I had transferred to my fountain pen as a 
substitute for ink and which I actually used as such) 
some one shouted ' ' Attention ' ' and a commissioned officer 
stalked by. We had all heard of the unpardonable offense 
of not saluting a superior officer and of the terrible conse- 
quences likely to ensue. Every man made an attempt at 
a salutation, some in a sitting posture, others with their 
eating utensils pointed skyward. One fellow in particular 
was taken with such consternation and surprise, that for- 
getting his tin cup full of coffee which he held in his right 
hand, raised it to his forehead and in consequence he and 
the fellows near him were sprinkled with the contents. 

On the morning of June 19th, we reached New Orleans. 
I fear the first impression that the citizens had of us must 
have been that a large band of tramps had invaded the 
place, for we were certainly a much begrimed and dirty 
looking lot of men. The men were the embodiment of 
good nature, as if such a trifling thing as a missing hat, 
shoe or coat was a matter of small importance. The side- 
walks were so hot that we could almost see the heat radiat- 
ing from the stones, so that walking to Jackson Barracks 
was out of the question. Trolley cars took us to within a 
short distance of the Barracks where we learned that the 
Fifth Cavalry had left the city, having been ordered to 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 13 

Tampa via Mobile. After delivering the documents to 
the Commandant, I joined the fellows in a good old fash- 
ioned Saturday night scrub in the wash house which was 
equipped with modern bath tubs. After our wash and 
feeling like white men again, we New Yorkers decided to 
see the city. We had received our clothing outfit at Fort 
Slocum, and as our services were not required, we asked 
for passes to the city, which were granted the next morn- 
ing. We found New Orleans a very quaint old town. 
One of its peculiarities was the open sewer which ran 
through the streets in specially constructed stone ditches. 
No wonder an epidemic of yellow fever is a yearly occur- 
ence in this city with such unsanitary conditions. The 
citizens were intensely patriotic, especially the women. 
They all joined in the slightest demonstration, displaying 
their sentiments in the most approved American fashion. 

The Mississippi River, with its display of numberless 
steamships, flat bottom steamboats and sailing craft plying 
back and forth, presents the extensive facilities afforded by 
this harbor for commerce. The largest trans-shipments of 
cotton and sugar in the United States take place here. 
Nine miles of wharfage, five hundred feet wide, have been 
built encircling the city. The loading and unloading of the 
ships by negro stevedores is a sight well worth remembering. 
The river was fairly alive with pickaninnies who resembled 
huge water spiders as they peformed the "dead man's 
float ' ' and other aquatic feats with the most perfect ease. 
An occasional ' ' heave oh " or the air of some negro melody 
was wafted to our ears from the levees where the negroes 
were working, apparently as happy as the day is long. It 
was a comical sight to see those burly black fellows combine 
pleasure and work, playing all sorts of pranks on each other, 
wrestling, singing or doing a ' ' double shuffle ' ' in every 
spare moment. At the sharp command of the foreman they 



14 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

would rush to their work and with a "heave oh, way she 
go," would hoist the bales of cotton on shipboard. 

On the afternoon of June 21st, four hundred uniformed 
men marched through the majestic portals of the antiquated 
barracks. Very different were they from the noisy, un- 
couth lot of men who had arrived in the city a couple of 
days before. Admiration was very manifest for the newly 
uniformed men and their orderly ranks as they marched 
through the streets to the depot where they were met by an 
enthusiastic crowd that cheered them a hearty farewell and 
God-speed. Amidst the waving of handkerchiefs and blow- 
ing of tin horns our train left the station, starting on the 
long and tiresome journey to Jacksonville. 

The road from New Orleans to Tampa, via Jacksonville, 
was very rough, swaying the cars so that it gave many of us 
the sensation of sea-sickness. Late that evening Seigel 
and I ensconced ourselves, as comfortably as the circum- 
stances allowed, in a seat, and were soon asleep. We were 
propped against each other, shoulder to shoulder, in such a 
way that the danger of sliding off our makeshift bed was 
reduced to a minimum. A sudden jolt and jar awakened 
us and then the train ran smoothly for a few moments. 
Presently the guard yelled out that the train was off the 
track, and I for one preferred that it should keep on run- 
ning in ditches instead of in its customary way — over 
crooked rails and in what felt to us like springless cars. 
The following afternoon we reached Jacksonville without 
any more mishaps, beyond what the passengers suffered 
from the strain occasioned by the constant gripping of seats 
to prevent precipitation through the windows and doors of 
the cars 

The city was crowded from one end to the other with 
soldiers. Everywhere uniforms — nothing but uniformed 
men. The hotels were filled with officers and their families. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 15 

Festive youths in spick-span uniforms with shoulder straps 
stalked up and down the principal streets, looking for all 
the world like young popinjays. We saluted a few of these 
young officers, but they were either profoundly ignorant of 
military etiquette or felt themselves too exalted in rank to 
notice a common private. Had they been regular army 
officers, our salutations would have been recognized instant- 
ly and returned courteously. A grocery store, a short dis- 
tance up the street, attracted our attention by the fresh 
display of vegetables in front, and it also reminded me that 
I needed sugar to sweeten my coffee. I walked into the 
store and asked the clerk to sell me a cent's worth of sugar 
as that would be plenty. 

"Well, young fellow," said he, in a sarcastic tone, "You 
don't want very much." 

Misconstruing his meaning, intentionally perhaps, I said, 
"No, not very much, just enough to sweeten my coffee." 
He squinted his eyes and puckered his forehead as if trying 
to calculate exactly how much profit he would make on a 
cent's worth. He opened and shut his mouth a few times 
as if about to speak, and finally drawled out that two cents' 
worth was the least he could sell me. I asked him for a 
pinch or two, but as this would have been a direct loss, he 
refused on general principles. I thanked him for his gen- 
erosity, so unwillingly extended, and quitted the store, for 
while I had been innocently trying to get a corner on sugar 
one of the fellows overheard our conversation, and decided 
that a man so cussed mean ought to contribute something 
to the maintenance of Uncle Sam's standing army, so he 
had selected a few tomatoes as a donation. We ate our 
supper of hardtack, canned beef and coffee on the train later 
on in the evening. The first man to bite into one of the 
tomatoes was he who had selected them. The wa>' of the 
transgressor is usually hard, and this unfortunate fellow 



16 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

was no exception to the rule, for this tomato was bad and 
caused a general stampede into the fresh air, where we 
finished eating our supper and the remaining tomatoes. 

Contrary to all expectations the train started for Tampa on 
schedule time — nine o'clock that evening. The official time 
tables of some of these southern roads are somewhat similar 
to a horse racing programme. The numbers of the train, the 
arrivals and departures and the mileage are printed thereon; 
but like a horse, no specified train can be relied on to win 
out. The Plant System, from Jacksonville to Tampa, is a 
very primitive road. The engines burn wood for fuel, and 
cords of it are piled beside the track at short distances, the 
train stopping every hour or two to replenish the supply. 
One can imagine the speed, or rather the lack of speed, 
when only two hundred miles were covered in fourteen 
hours. The train actually traveled so slowly that we would 
jump off and walk to the watermelon patches which skirted 
the track, tuck a watermelon under each arm, saunter back, 
and without any great exertion board the same car we had 
left a few minutes previously. We passed over many 
swamps, and as every one knows that Florida is an alligator 
country, where this animal flourishes in all its native ugli- 
ness, we were very anxious to see one, but every log that 
we sighted proved to be a log and nothing more. 

The following morning, about ten o'clock, we arrived in 
Tampa. Army wagons were lined up at the depot in readi- 
ness to carry us to the camp. After half an hour of jolting 
over a deep sandy road, and a continual flow of profanity 
poured by the drivers upon the mules, we saw, through a 
grove of pine trees on our left, the tented city of Camp 
Tampa. The camp was situated on a barren sandy plain 
that had evidently been a pine forest, as the stumps dotted 
the ground in all directions excepting the parade ground, 
where more care had been taken to procure a fine field — a 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 17 

mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, of deep sandy soil. 
It could not be excelled for cavalry manoeuvres; but as a 
drilling ground we recruits, who later were drilled on it 
two or three times daily, found it very fatiguing. 

Upon arriving at the camp we were lined up and divided 
into detachments and assigned to different troops. Seigel 
and I were standing side by side as the officer who was 
counting off the men necessary for each troop passed by. 
Seigel was unluckily the last man assigned to troop " A," 
while I was number one recruit for troop "K. " Joe stepped 
forward a few paces, saluted Col. Whiteside, and asked per- 
mission if I might be included in the troop " A " batch of 
recruits also. The very idea of a raw recruit approaching 
an officer on such a trivial matter no doubt astonished the 
older soldiers, as their faces expressed volumes. I also was 
somewhat surprised at his audacity, but the colonel's good 
uatured face wreathed in smiles as he said: "Are you 
brothers ? ' ' 

" No,'' said Joe, "but almost." 

This pleased the jovial old soldier so much that he 
ordered the man on Joe's right to change places with me. 

A battalion drill was in progress and we could see the 
troopeis, half a mile distant, making an evolution, which, 
when completed, took the form of two long lines. Suddenly 
the bugle sounded the charge and the lines moved simul- 
taneously. Clouds of dust formed a background to the 
fast approaching picture. The horses, which were all bays, 
needed no urging, and the cavalrymen, wearing campaign 
hats, blue shiits and blue trousers, gave them free rein. 
Every man was yelling with the excitement of the exhilar- 
ating e.cercise and passing us like a flash, .with a clanking 
of accoutrements and the thud of hoof beats, disappeared 
in the dust. I thought of the charge of the light brigade: 
" Flashed all their sabres bare, Flashed all at once in air;" 



18 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

and I wondered how long a time must elapse before I would 
be competent to take part in such a wild ride. 

Of course we were the cynosure of all eyes as we marched 
by the troop streets, and many were the good natured gibes 
we had flung at us. One trooper sung out: "Look at the 
soldiers' nice new trousers — I can see their finish after two 
weeks of monkey drill." We did not understand the 
meaning of this "monkey drill," but a smile stole over the 
face of Sergeant Hunting, our escort, and, judging by his 
chuckling, we recruits had a treat in store for us. A few 
moments' short walk brought us to troop "A" street, into 
which we turned. Sergeant Hunting looked into a tent 
and beckoned Seigel and myself to enter. By way of intro- 
duction to the two troopers therein, seated upon the straw, 
cleaning their shooting irons, he said bluffly, " Boys, make 
room for two men, somewhere; don't know their names, 
but what's the use anyway, we'll christen them. With a 
good heart}' laugh and a parting nod he left us, to finish 
the distributing of the six remaining men to the different 
tents. A space three feet wide was allowed each man for 
his blanket roll, and we immediately arranged our bunks in 
accordance with the strict rules and regulations of the tent. 
I passed my bag of tobacco to the two troopers who each 
rolled a cigarette, Seigel and I following their example, 
and at once we all became talkative and at home with each 
other. God bless the man who discovered tobacco. He 
should be placed in the same category with the man who 
invented sleep. The weed, for some unexplained reason, 
seems to unloosen the tongues of the most morose or bash- 
ful of men. Our two new acquaintances wanted to know 
the news from Washington. Were they going to move 
soon ? What was the public opinion in regard to the war, 
and a thousand other things, until, in fact, the questions 
came so fast that we cried ' ' quarter, ' ' and like the Yankee, 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 19 

we answered questions by asking them, and soon we found 
out that there were no reliable newspapers in circulation in 
the camp. Even as we were talking, one of the correspon- 
dents of a " Yellow Journal ' ' was shouting ' ' what the 
government was going to do, perhaps, or what it wasn't 
going to do, maybe." It was small wonder that the men 
were growing restless under what they supposed was the 
restraint put upon them by the Washington Government, 
misinformed as they were by the big lettered sheets of a 
couple of New York newspapers. Both Seigel and I were 
tired, hot and dirty, and I borrowed a battered tin basin 
which apparently had been used for everything. An old 
piece of soft soap covered the bottom of the basin where 
the sun had melted it very conveniently, as all one had to 
do when washing was to grab a handful of it. We made a 
beeline for the hydrant in the rear of the cook house. 
This line led directly through the cook's realm. Now the 
army cook is supremely supreme, and in fact, next to the 
commissioned officer, he is the most respected individual in 
the service. Of course we did not know that. How could 
we, only a week in the service ? We found out though 
very quickly as we became entangled with his pots, kettles 
and other paraphernalia, that he was an authoritative cuss, 
for he blankety-blanked us in such a hearty fashion that I 
yelled back at him: "Say, old man, can you cook as well 
as you can cuss ? ' ' 

" Yes," said he, " and a d sight better." 

"Well, if you can," I said, "you are a peach, and no 
mistake." 

The men in the adjoining troop were filling the horse 
trough which was also used by troop " A. " An officer 
darted here and there giving all sorts of orders to the half 
a dozen men who composed the bucket brigade. He under- 
took to show a man how to carry a pail full of water. 



20 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

He grabbed the full pail and was about to empty it in the 
trough when his feet became entangled, and he sprawled in 
the mud. He then commenced to swear at the poor humble 
private, who was becoming red in the face with stifled 
laughter. The men in the vicinity seemed to have lost 
something — as they busied themselves — or the heat proved 
suddenly unbearable, and the bandannas came out, one by 
one, to hide the broad smiles. 

Now was the time to wash. I sallied forth with sleeves 
rolled up and neck bare, with my basin full of soap. The 
pan was just half full of water, as I now remember, when a 
deep roar startled me. 

"Get the h out of there, you blanket}' blank fool. 

Don't you know you will ruin the water in the horse trough 
with that soapy water ? ' ' 

Turning around I beheld the same officer glaring at me 
ferociously. The horse trough was fully twenty feet away 
and an overflow pipe connected it with a gutter near the 
pump. How soapy water or anj r other kind could possibly 
run up an inclined plane was a mystery to me. Well, at 
any rate, I did not stop to argue the question with him, but 
spilled the water and at the same time postponed my inter- 
rupted wash. This was my only encounter with this com- 
missioned officer, who was knowm as a terror throughout 
the camp. I thought by my recent experience with him 
that he had justly acquired the title. He was the only 
officer I ever saw who treated his subordinates in such a 
contemptuous manner. He treated his men as if they were 
dogs, or even worse. He w r as incapable of talking kindlj- to 
them, a thing the poorest mongrel occasionally expects. 
I had opportunities of witnessing some of his brutal conduct 
on two or three other occasions, which I shall mention 
later on. 

Upon returning to our tent we saw Troop " A " coming 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 21 

in from battalion drill in column of two formation. They 
marched into the troop street and when all were assembled 
in front of the tents the command " Halt " brought all the 
horses to a standstill. The sharp decisive voice of the 
troop commander rang out ' ' On right into line. ' ' Numbers 
one and three turned their horses to the right at an angle 
of forty-five degrees; numbers two and four moved forward 
into the intervening spaces between numbers one and three. 
When the command is executed the troop is formed into 
one long line and a straight one too. They occupy exactly 
the same position and bear the same numbers as when 
they started out to drill two hours previously. As a pre- 
cautionary measure, however, so that no man can mistake 
his number, they count by fours, commencing at the ex- 
treme right: one, two, three, four and so on, until every 
man in line has his own number. ' ' Prepare to dismount. ' ' 
Numbers one and two advance two paces, numbers three and 
four maintain their position. "Dismount." Every right 
leg is jerked up describing an arc above the horses' backs 
and where a moment before eighty men seemed rooted in 
their saddles, nothing was now visible above the horses 
except the empty saddles. Each man, as he dismounted, 
took his carbine out of the boot on the off side of the horse. 
Numbers three and four lead their horses into line, and each 
man holds his horse by the bridle with his right hand, and 
supports his carbine at an " order arms ' ' with his left 
until the command " dismiss " is given. The troopers then 
lead their horses to the picket line and tie them to it by the 
halter straps. The saddles and bridles are taken off and 
hung on the racks in front of the tents. This was all done 
with the precision of clock work. We recruits stood gaping 
at its perfection, and the personal interest that every man 
seemed to take in the deportment of the troop was a 
revelation to us. The horses understood the commands 



22 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

as exactly, aiid executed them as intelligently as the 
troopers. 

One of the horses was picketed about ten or fifteen feet 
away from the others. Firstly, because he was the troop 
commander's mount, and secondly, because he had a jealous 
and vicious temper. When he thought that the right 
amount of caresses were not being showered on his sleek 
sides and neck, he would kick and bite and cause a general 
stampede if picketed with the others. There was one other 
horse who dared dispute the absolute sovereignity of the 
picket line with Sultan. He was a dapple gray animal, which 
had formerly been an artillery horse, but had been with the 
troop about a week. Whether he had been trained for a 
kicker or not, no one knew, nevertheless he had it down to 
a science. He was positively mulish. I might say, almost 
humanly so. One afternoon a terrible rumpus was heard 
at the other end of the picket line, and upon investigation 
we found Sultan and the dapple gray at war. Legs, hoofs 
and sand flying in the air. The tattoo they were playing 
on each other's sides sounded like a bass and kettle drum. 
The gray, on account of his big flat feet played the basso, 
while dainty Sultan played the treble. The other horses 
marked time by stamping nervously. Pandemonium reigned 
for a time. It was madness to separate them at this junc- 
ture. We yelled at them, but it did no good; and finally 
two of the troopers had the temerity to try and quell the 
disturbance, but were obliged to retreat in disorder or be 
knocked to "kingdom come." Sultan was getting the 
worst of it, being the smaller horse, when he took advan- 
tage of the slack in his line, and evidently believed in the 
old adage: " He who fights and runs away, will live to 
fight another day." Like most spirited animals or children, 
the drubbing he received was an everlasting lesson to him, 
for he was meek and docile for a long time. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 23 



CHAPTER II. 

Our wind jammer sounded mess call. One might suppose 
that a general rush to the cook tent would greet this one 
call which is more welcome to the ear of the soldier than 
any other, under ordinary climatic conditions, but the 
atmosphere was so heavy and oppressive from the intense 
heat, that the men walked listlessly to the cook tent more 
from force of habit than from any desire for the meal. It 
was rarely that a trooper passed his mess pan to have it 
refilled. Some of the fellows would seat themselves on the 
ground, their tin plates and cups between their legs, others 
would get into the shade of the cars and sit upon the tracks, 
while still others would return to their tents to try eating 
in peace, but wherever one went it was a constant battle 
with flies which swarmed through the camp. They were 
so thick that at times the plate full of beans or beef would 
be so covered with them that all one could see was a moving 
mass, and the tin cup would serve as a uatatorium for the 
pests. By the time the flies had been driven away for the 
next mouthful, and you had a fork full of food ready to be 
eaten, the fork would be again covered with them. It was 
a game of tag as long as any food remained on your plate, 
and by all appearances we were " it " most of the time. 
Really, to have watched the men eating from a distance, at 
their mid-day meal, (their breakfasts and suppers were not 
so heroically fought for) one would have thought that they 
were troubled with St. Vitus' dance, as their arms moved 
spasmodically in the air, making right and left cuts and 
moulinettes at apparently nothing. The horses attracted 
these pestilent insects, so of course the doughboys were not 
troubled as much as the cavalrymen were, yet the infantry 



24 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

had their share. Flies are certainly the greatest scavengers 
on the face of the earth, yet I know the men much preferred 
cleaning their own dishes. 

After washing our mess pans in a pail of hot water, used 
for that purpose, my bunkie (for such I shall hereafter call 
Seigel) and I lay down on the cool, clean straw in the tent 
and soliloquized. Both of us had been accustomed to city 
life and then in a week's time to be transformed from a 
"dude," as they called us city fellows, into one of Uncle Sam's 
prospective fighting machines, where everything was so 
entirely different, manners, customs and companionship, 
made it seem like a dream. 

The regular army however is no place for the dreamer, as 
one is sure to find out by experience. Everything is done 
in a precise manner — no half way — but exactly to a dot, 
filling the heart of the shirker with dismay. L,azy men are 
to be found the world over, but the regular soldier, if he ever 
was lazy before entering the service, soon learns the 
necessary rudiments of a soldier's requirements, viz.: 
discipline and neatness. 

The majority of the tents used at Tampa were known as 
the Sibley, conical in shape, about twelve feet in diameter, 
with a pole through the centre. A rack for the carbines, 
pistols and sabres was made out of some old boards and 
nailed to this pole. When a man laid down on his piece of 
ground, he had just space enough to stretch out without 
touching the pole with his feet. Suddenly there appeared 
at our tent door a long-legged, long-armed, long-necked 
trooper with an elongated nose. He stood looking at the 
fellows, his nostrils distended as if scenting danger. Out 
of the corner of my right eye I could see Corporal Davis 
smuggle his boot from underneath his blanket. 

"Hello, ' Nosey,' " said Davis, " What the devil do you 
want ? ' ' 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 25 

" You're a wise guy, Davie, all right, but you're a d 

fool, too." 

" I am, hey," yelled Davis, and with that the boot went 
flying through the air, just missing "Nosey" who had 
come down from his dizzy height to the ground, all in a 
heap. 

" Well, it's too hot to stand any way, " said he. 

"It will be hotter sitting down if I come over there," 
threatened Davis. 

"Well now, see here, Davis, don't be getting on your 
ear, because I called you a d fool. " 

A threatening glance from Davis, and "Nosey" sank 
back again and said, ' ' What is it I want ? Everything — 
I'm a socialist, I am. " 

His idea of Socialism was rather vague. 

" You'd make a better skeleton dude than anything else 
I know of, ' ' drawled Sergeant Hunting, who was one of our 
tent mates. 

The very idea of " Nosey" posing as a dude, in present 
appearance and condition, for it must be confessed that he 
was hilarious and in a happy state of mind from an over- 
indulgence in the liquid, was so monstrously funny that a 
general laugh was had at his expense. 

I never saw him angry — he had not the ambition to be- 
come so. But his only aspiration was to borrow money and 
it was a strong one, for he was always in debt ; borrowing 
a little from this and that man until his monthly pittance 
of $15.60 was gone. Then, when pay day came, he settled 
his debts, never forgetting any of us, and consequently the 
next day would find him starting out on the endless chain 
of borrowing until the ghost should walk again. On this 
particular occasion, however, " Nosey " had not come after 
the long green, for he soon informed us that "a chew-ter- 
backer " was what he wanted. 



26 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

"Say, Oily," he called out, for evidently he had learned 
my name and had abbreviated it to suit his convenience, 
" Did you ever see such a lot of measley cusses, won't even 
give a fellow a chew-terbacker ? ' ' 

I handed him my bag of smoking tobacco — it was only 
an ounce bag and of a very fine cut, yet he filled his mouth 
with half of it and said very indistinctly, his mouth being 
far too full to talk plainly, " You clan plut your clothes in 
my tlunk, Lolly." At which, of course, I felt greatly 
flattered. We yelled at him to get out, and not moving as 
fast as we wished him to, we grabbed boots, leggins and in 
fact anything we could reach, and pelted him until he 
finally reached the tent door, and then Mike Congdon, or 
more properly speaking, Sergeant Congdon, lifted him 
along materially with a good sound kick, which reached the 
part of Nosey' s anatomy at which it was aimed. "Nosey" 
surely should have considered himself " some pumpkins " 
for Congdon never exerted himself except upon a rare 
occasion, such as this, and then he took advantage of it 
with a vengeance. He had landed ' ' Nosey ' ' clear of the 
tent door on the double-quick and the only remonstrance 
we heard from " Nose)' " was the one word, " Lobsters." 

Congdon, with a grunt of satisfaction, pulled the fly net- 
ting over his head and hands, and was soon whistling away 
like one of Barnurn's steam caliopes. 

"Say Mike," yelled "Nosey " through the tent flap. 

" Phat th'devil der yez want?" in a sleepy undertone 
from Mike. 

"Get a shave," said " Nosey." 

" Huh," was the only response from Mike as he relapsed 
into semi-consciousness. I 

Sergeant Congdon was a toughened, seasoned old veteran, 
and was one of those in the troop who had seen service 
against the Indians and gangs of outlaws that infest the 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 27 

borders between Texas and Mexico. He had also served 
in the English Army in India. Many of his characteristics 
portrayed the sterling qualities of the soldier and he never 
pnt off until to-morrow what ought to be done to-day, 
hence he settled himself for a nap. 

'You new men come outside," was the order that was 
passed along the different tents. We recruits were quickly 
assembled in the troop street and were ordered into line by 
First-Sergeant Drake. After the line was formed, it was 
anything but straight, as each man was governed solely by 
the man on his right or left which ever it happened to be. 

"Attention! stop your rubbernecking. Each man will 
answer present, when his name is called." 

One of the names was a puzzler and Drake made a guess 
at it which sounded like " Barrel of Whiskey." A fellow 
named Browskosky answered. The pseudonym was so well 
suited to his physical appearance, he being a straight up 
and down, sawed off at both ends individual, that the name 
' ' Barrel of Whiskey ' ' clung to him ever afterwards. 

After roll call, and all the men accounted for, we were 
dismissed with orders to assemble for our first drill after 
' 'Retreat' ' that evening. Thus our advent into the duties of 
a soldier's life commenced. In charge of Sergeant Hunt- 
ing, we marched out on the parade ground in single file (as 
only raw recruits can march.) What a sorry spectacle we 
must have presented. Each man had his own gait and 
length of stride, and the whole line looked exactly as if we 
were two-stepping, as each man tried to regulate his step 
with the man in front of him. When we had marched thus 
for a short distance, a halt was ordered, bringing our im- 
promptu dance to a finish. The suddenness with.which this 
halt was executed caused the men to topple over each other 
like a row of dominoes set on ends. 

" Right face," ordered Hunting. With a good natured 



28 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

smile he walked up to a couple of fellows whose legs had 
become entangled and even went to the trouble of showing 
them in what directions their right and left were. I wanted 
to put my hands in my pockets for I felt foolish, and the 
straighter I stood, the more awkward I felt. Perhaps the 
reader has been in an awkward squad, and if he has he can 
understand the predicament of the writer. He may have 
rehearsed many times before a mirror the positions of a 
soldier — according to his own ideas and have been satisfied 
with his military bearing. But let him stand in line with 
a dozen or more recruits, just as green as himself, with an 
expert military instructor standing in front of him, at at- 
tention, with the easy carriage that denotes a thoroughly 
trained soldier, and the remembrance of his reflections in 
the mirror will fade into nothingness. 

" Now, fellows, I'm going to put you through what we 
call a setting up drill. It'll loosen all your joints and put 
you in proper shape for the more difficult drills that you 
will have later on. ' ' 

Each man was given six feet space on either side and in 
front of him. Then one hour, with intervals for resting, 
was devoted to throwing our chests out and in, standing on 
our toes and heels by turns, throwing our legs up into the 
air with such force that the joints could be plainly heard to 
crack, and twisting our necks sidewise, back and forth, until 
it was nothing short of a miracle that our heads were not 
twisted off our shoulders. We threw our arms around so 
rapidly, and with so much force, that we must have looked 
like small wind mills; and before the hour was up, every 
man could have wrapped his body in his arms and legs and 
posed as a freak india rubber man. This setting up drill 
was everything Hunting had represented it to be. It did 
loosen our joints to be sure, and ir some cases almost 
severed connections 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 29 

Incidental to these 'drills I would like to describe " re- 
treat " as enacted in the regular army. Nowhere can one 
witness a more glorious, patriotic demonstration of fealty 
to the flag than this ceremony, which is made all the more 
impressive by the simplicity of every feature in it. To look 
at the regular soldier one would hardly imagine him a senti- 
mentalist. He is such a practical, robust-looking individual 
that sentiment seems as entirely foreign to him as it would 
to a Fiji Islander. He is, however, the embodiment of 
sentiment in the best sense of the word, viz.: patriotism. 
Wherever he happens to be, in town, barracks, or on a long 
and w T earisome march, whenever the flag is brought to his 
view, he salutes it as he would a superior officer. If within 
hearing distance when the "Star Spangled Banner" is 
struck up, he removes his hat with deference and stands at 
attention until the air is finished. One might think that 
this comes to him as naturally as holding a gun, but it is 
not so, for holding a gun is purely mechanical, while I 
have seen times when these rules, regarding their respect 
to the flag and our National air, could have been overlooked 
if the men had willed it so; but I never saw anything but 
love and respect shown in either case. Ah, what a lesson 
this is to man)' of our wrangling politicians whose motto is: 

"Get rich and the country be ," who use politics 

solely as a means to further their own pecuniary ends, not 
caring a rap about the condition of the country so long as 
their greed is satisfied; but I am digressing from what I 
started out to describe. 

' ' Retreat " is a signal in the army or navy given by the 
beat of the drum or by the blast of a bugle at sunset, after 
the daily exercises and drills. Shortly after supper the 
first call for retreat is sounded. All is hustle and bustle in 
the troop streets as some belated troopers hurry into line 
before the next call is sounded. Heaven help the poor 



30 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

fellow who is absent without a good excuse. The first 
offence probably means a two to five dollar blind, which will 
help him to remember in the future, while the second offense 
is usually punished by a sojourn in the guard house. 

From headquarters conies the sweet tones ta-ra-ra-ta-ra-ra, 
and before they die away each First-Sergeant's command of 
' ' attention ' ' rings out as he faces his troop read3 r to call 
the roll. Every troop line straightens and comes to "order 
arms," then "right shoulder, uraps;" the carbines go to 
each shoulder in one, two, three order. At the last motion, 
three, every left arm falls to the side simultaneously, and 
the gun barrels rest on the shoulders in parallel lines. As 
the roll is called, each man answers to his name and at the 
same time comes to ' ' order arms. ' ' 

"Troop attention! count fours." Once again, like a 
large class, the troopers call out their numbers in loud pre- 
cise tones, and as the last voice dies away, the non-com 
commanding the troop approaches the troop commander, 
salutes and reports: "Sir, the troop is present in count of 
fours." He then right about faces and takes a position on 
the extreme right of line. This is merely preliminary, for 
now comes the impressive part. 

" Right dress," rings out the different voices of the troop 
commanders. With no disorder and very little shuffling 
each troop becomes one long straight line. What a fine 
sight it was to see line after line of such men straight as 
arrows, campaign hats, all worn in one style — Teton peak — 
made hy drawing the crown of the hat to a point at the top 
and having three indentations in it. Yellow or blue 
polka dot bandannas tied loosely at the throat, blue shirts, 
blue leggins, the cartridge belt dividing the two shades of 
blue, and the buff colored canvas leggins which put a 
finishing touch to the picturesque uniforms. The men 
might have been carved out of stone so motionless were 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 31 

they. Not a sound was heard except the sighing of the 
wind in the pine trees. The gorgeous tropical sun sinking 
down to the west, lighted up the camp with a splendid glow 
and the " Star Spangled Banner" floated out, oh so softly 
on the air. 

" Parade rest," rang out successively amongst the troops 
and then the sweet National air increased in volume until the 
tones penetrated into the innermost recesses of every man's 
heart and soul. No matter how hardened a soldier may be, 
how toughened and calloused his heart ma}' be to all out- 
ward appearances, his eye will light up, his head rise high 
with pride, and defiance show in his face and figure as he 
rests, grasping his carbine in front of him with both hands. 
The flag is hauled down from the regimental flag pole when 
the Star Spangled Banner is finished and the sunset gun 
booms out. 

' Order arms, port arms, prepare for inspection. " The 
bolts of the Krags are opened and pulled back with a click, 
and the troop commanders pass slowly down the line in- 
specting the chamber and barrel of each carbine. The 
slightest bit of rust or dirt is noted by their sharp eyes, 
and the unpardonable offense of a dirty gun is not likely to 
be repeated more than once. The shooting irons are always 
inspected more closely than any other of the soldier's accou- 
trements — although everything is minutely examined. 
There never was any excuse for a rusty gun, as bacon fat 
could be easily procured, and as for a man with a dirty gun, 
he was looked upon as a slouch. After inspection, the 
troops were dismissed and the soldiers were left to their own 
devices. Some of them frequented the regimental canteen, 
others read by candle light the antediluvian periodicals and 
newspapers which were always to be found in camp, having 
been loaned and passed around from one to another until the 
print was hardly distinguishable; still others lounged around 



32 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

to watch guard mount which follows immediately after 
retreat. 

A small cavalcade of about fifty men, consisting of the 
mounted band and thirty troopers and officers, stepped out 
upon the parade ground. The band struck up some lively 
tune, and the horses pranced and danced, while the troopers 
sitting so gracefully in the saddles, formed a striking con- 
trast to the European cavalrymen who do not "give" in 
their saddles but ride stiffly as if they were afraid of break- 
ing their horses' backs at every jounce. Three men and 
one "non-com" are detailed from each troop, every twenty- 
four hours, to guard regimental headquarters and the prison- 
ers in the guard-house. Considering the nearness of Tampa 
City and the numerous rum shacks in the vicinity of the 
camp, the number of prisoners were surprisingly few, very 
rarely exceeding twelve men at am- time, and that was only 
after pay day. This was indeed creditable to the Fifth Cav- 
alry, if one were to judge by the number of inmates in the 
guard-houses from other regiments. The cases were all 
petty ones, such as intoxication and slovenliness; and the 
prisoners, if such they may be called, were allowed the free- 
dom of the guard-house. When any policing up was neces- 
sary, such as clearing away refuse or digging ditches, these 
men were detailed for these duties. To the men who in- 
dulged too freely in liquor, imprisonment for two or three 
days was deemed by them no disgrace, and as surely as the 
sun rises in the East, the same faces were to be seen in the 
guardhouse month after month immediately after pa}* day. 
The}- could recover more quickly there, from the "peache- 
riuo," as these injudicious indulgences were sometimes 
called. Cases of slovenliness were so rarely seen that I can 
recall but two or three instances where men were put in 
•'clink" (guard-house) for this offense. 

Thus ended our first day in camp and my bunkie and I 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 33 

turned in about eight o'clock thoroughly tired; and hardly 
had we said the customary good night, ere we were in 
dreamland. A rude awakening fell to my share through 
Corporal Davis, who gave me a dig in the ribs. I was just 
about boarding a Broadway car, and my half collected wits 
were running riot with the conductor and the paving stones 
— I had been ejected from the car for not paying my fare — I 
had grabbed one of Davis' arms thinking it was a brass rail 
no doubt, and it naturally startled him from his slumbers. 
A tattoo upon my ribs, which he played with his knuckles, 
awoke me just as I was to board the car again, and opening 
my eyes I saw Davis laughing at me, for it was now day- 
light. He said, " Hello, kid; you must have had a good 
run for your mone\ r , are you sure you've got five cents ?" 

" Well, I have been dreaming," I said. 

" I believe it," he remarked dryly, "and I have been 
the nightmare — you tried to ride me somewhere but I be- 
came balky." 

After explaining my dream, we both had a good laugh. 
It was about 4. 30 a. m. , so we both turned over again to 
take another snooze, but reveille sounded out clear on the 
morning air, and the rapidity with which the men slid into 
their clothes and cartridge belts, grabbed their carbines and 
formed into line in the troop streets ready for roll call, would 
have rivalled the lightning changes of costumes which a 
character artist might be called upon to make. 

I can smell now the burning of the pine logs on the cook 
fires, as their pungent odor filled the air, the coffee bubbling 
in the large iron boiler, and the nondescript hash in the bake 
pan, browned and delicious, was ready for the crowd of hun- 
gry men to punish. A ladle full of hash with a hunk of 
bread was put on each man's plate by the cook, and the tin 
cups filled with the aromatic beverage. After breakfast the 
horses were fed and groomed, then we recruits were given 



34 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

our regular drill for two or three hours; Sergeant Hunting 
drilled us in a setting up drill for a couple of days. He was 
then replaced by Sergeant Lutz, the troop drill sergeant. 

Sergeant Lutz was a splendid fellow, of a pronounced 
soldierly bearing, who attracted attention everywhere on 
account of his six feet of muscle and brawn. He was an 
ideal cavalryman, dashing, and an excellent horseman; his 
feats of horsemanship caused us recruits to stare and wonder 
at first, although later we undertook and performed many 
of the tricks he taught us, but we never excelled in them 
as he did, of course. During drill he was the strictest of 
disciplinarians; he was positively bearish sometimes, and 
many a poor "ruky" has quaked in his boots as Lutz 
yelled or swore at him for his clumsiness. Often after drill 
he would imitate our awkwardness as an object lesson and 
to illustrate how comical some of us looked. If his imita- 
tions were at all correct, his tirades were justifiable. 

I remember distinctly one evening when a crowd of Troop 
"A" fellows were gathered around a refreshment shack, 
set up just across the railroad tracks by an enterprising 
young negro, who sold cakes, ice cream, lemonade and 
watermelon. His goodies were always of the best, conse- 
quently his place was extensively patronized; lemonade was 
his specialty, however, from the sign that read " Lemonade 
5C. a glass." Judging from the workmanship on this sign, 
which suggested this cool and refreshing drink, the man 
who painted those letters must have had something stronger 
than the "specialty" for they were hobnobbing with each 
other and the "m's" and "n's" were turned so that one 
had to stand on his head, almost, to read them. Well, to 
resume. We were all standing around, talking over the 
events of the day, for it was the first horseback drill we had 
had. I say standing, merely because it was an utter im- 
possibility to sit, not because the ground was hard, bu 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 35 

for other reasons which the reader can perhaps guess. 
Sergeant Lutz, the tormentor, walked over for some 
refreshments. 

" Hello, fellows," said he. 

The negro put the question to him "What will you have, 
sir?" 

" Lemonade, with a stick in it; and say, nigger, put a 
big stick in it, too, for I'm a big sucker — see?" 

After being served he walked over to an old log and sat 
down on it, and after sampling his drink and finding it to 
his taste, he looked up and it suddenly dawned on him that 
we were all standing. 

' ' You fellows all look as if you had been drawn through 
a knot-hole. Why don't you sit down ?" 

A few sheepish smiles greeted this raillery, but no one 
budged to accept the invitation; on the contrary, we stood 
straighter and ignored him. 

" Sa}', but you fellows must feel sore over something. 
What is it, eh?" laughed Lutz. 

" I know I'm devilish mean in jollying you fellows, be- 
cause I have been through the monkey drill myself and I 
know what it is." 

His face became serious at the remembrace of those days 
when he had been a raw recruit like ourselves, though he 
could not keep from smiling as he watched our antics that 
evening as we all rode out on the parade ground, bareback, 
with only the halter straps to guide the horses. 

Those who have tried riding with the halter strap tied to 
the brute's nose, know what a useless task it is. How we 
recruits managed to go through that first drill without 
breaking a neck or two, still remains a mystery to me. 

It is rather a peculiar sensation, though a pleasing one, to 
one who has never ridden bareback to feel himself moving 
up and down with each step of a horse, on a walk. My 



86 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

thoughts were running in that direction when suddenly L,utz 
shouted out "TROT." Br-r-r-r, I could feel my teeth 
come together with a click and my joints crack as the horse 
I was riding sprung forward on a fast trot. With the second 
step of the horse I was jounced about two feet in the air 
and landed on his withers, my arms were outstretched eager 
to catch anything that might stay the fall. I embraced his 
neck as I would a long-lost brother, only considerably 
tighter. By this time I was perched nearly on his neck , 
like a monkey doing a circus trick. But upon looking 
around I did not feel at all conspicuous or that I was show- 
ing off, for a number of fellows were doing the same stunt, 
while still others had lost their balance and fallen from their 
horses. L,utz was enjoying a good laugh, but I must con- 
fess that I could see anything but fun in it; though it was 
certainly amusing to a spectator, no doubt. Out of the 
twenty men, two or three were sitting upright and sitting 
as they should, while the majority of the other men were 
anywhere on their horses — from the head to the tail — and 
others were dusting their clothes and rubbing sand out of 
their eyes. The riderless horses were kicking up dust and 
misbehaving themselves generally, and I have come to 
the conclusion that this is the way the cavalry horses 
have of showing their amusement. My horse, "Harry," 
tried his utmost to throw me, but a leech never clung 
more tenaciously to his victim than I did to this horse's 
neck. 

" Here, Oliver, walk your horse," commanded Lutz. 

" I've been trying to," said I. 

" Pull on the halter strap and he'll slow down. Don't be 
afraid," advised L,utz. 

"Who's afraid?" and I gave the brute's jaw a series of 
yanks that instead of quieting him only made him dance 
sideways. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 37 

With every jerk and yank he would jump into the air, 
and I grunted and groaned as I came down on his back with 
a sheer fall of two or three feet. 

"Say, S-e-r-geant L,-u-t-z, p-1-e-a-s-e h-o-l-d t-h-i-s d-a-m- 
n-e-d b-r-u-t-e." 

This appeal was made between the grunts and groans, 
and the pathos evidently touched Lutz, for he came to my 
rescue and grabbed the halter strap, and I half climbed and 
fell from the horse and was more than glad to find myself 
on terra firma again. 

"Hold him tight, now, and don't let him getaway," 
continued Lutz, as he rode briskly away to round up the 
men who were scattered all over the parade ground. I felt 
rather disgusted and dejected as I started off after Lutz-, 
and had gone just two paces when my horse absolutely 
refused to move. I tugged and pulled at him, but the brute 
only braced himself and tossed his head, laid back his ears 
and looked at me with such defiance, that for a moment I 
wished myself in the rear of him, but quickly changed my 
mind for his heels went flying into the air and I was becom- 
ing impatient when I found out that persuasion was the best 
way, and at that he allowed himself to be led to where the 
men were congregating. 

At last Lutz succeeded in getting the men together, but 
one of them had been so badly injured that he was obliged 
to go to the hospital. He died a short time after, from the 
injuries he received that evening, at the hospital in Port 
Thomas, Kentucky. 

Some of the horses had galloped back to the picket line, 
showing their wonderful intelligence by picking out "A" 
street from eleven others, and were standing at the picket 
line finishing their hay that they had left a half hour before. 

As soon as the men were formed in line, Sergeant Lutz 
faced us as he sat upon his nag, "Billy." This horse was 



38 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

one of the most intelligent in the troop, he knew all that 
was said to him, especially the calls, and one in particular 
made him squeal with delight, and that was stable call. On 
regular drill all one had to do was to sit on Billy's back 
and he would go through all the manoeuvres without a 
mistake, but then this was also true of most of the other 
horses. 

" Well, you are a lot of wooden men," said L,utz. 

"Yes, sirs — a lot of blankety-blank wooden men." 

We did not deny this, and I heartily wished my anatomy 
was of wood. 

" You'd better all go back to your mamas again!" this 
in a sarcastic tone, causing a general smile. 

One fellow laughed outright. 

" So, Powers, you think it's a joke, do you?" Then in a 
deep stentorian tone, " Stop that laughing or I'll report }'ou 
to the troop commander. ' ' 

This threat had the desired effect of stopping the broad 
grins on all the faces; but to Powers, Lutz said: "You have 
taken a foolish powder and no mistake," for Powers still 
continued to smile in a silly fashion. The Sergeant could 
not contain himself any longer, and he yelled, "Get off 
that horse and lead him back to the picket line. I'll report 
you as sure as God made little apples. ' ' 

These were merely threats, for he never reported any one. 
Powers never saw anything funny in drilling after his first 
night's performance, and even during the intervals of rest- 
ing he wore a very sober countenance. 

It was now dusk and not much had been accomplished as 
to drilling for all those mishaps had taken up considerable 
time; our dilapidated looking squad rode slowly into camp and 
upon arriving there watered our horses, tied them to the 
picket line, and while a few men went to their respective 
tents, most of us walked over to the refreshment shack. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 39 

The above description of our first monkey drill accounted 
for our standing posture. 

Lutz set his empty glass on the counter, wiped his mouth 
with the corner of the bandanna handkerchief which he 
wore around his neck, smacked his lips and exclaimed, 
"Say, fellows, there's another batch of recruits coming 
down next week." He looked around to .see what effect 
this had with the men, but he met only gloomy stares. 
" Yes, and you'll have only one drill a day." This last bit 
of news was received with ejaculations of delight, happy 
smiles illuminated all the faces that but a moment before 
had been glum. There was a general chorus of "Lutz, have 
one with me," but Lutz declined with man} 7 thanks, and 
with a wry face said: 

" I'll never drink to the health of my own disfavor, not 
on your tintype. I'll wait till you know me better, and 
then I shall accept your kind invitations." 

" Say, Serg." sung out one ruky, " Don't you think we 
have become acquainted yet?" 

"Acquainted," exclaimed Lutz, "Why you fellows 
haven't had a formal introduction. You have just com- 
menced on your first monkey drill to-night, and the past 
week has only been preliminar}\ Wait until you have had 
two weeks more with me, and then you'll know me sure. 
Oh, yes, you'll be very well acquainted then. To-morrow 
morning drill at 7.30 — watering bridles only. We'll do all 
sorts of stunts, jumping over, dismounting and mounting 
the horse at a gallop and trot, so my advice is, go to bed 
earh- to-night." It was then about 7.30 p. m. 

One of the fellows had a peculiar habit of protruding his 
lips when talking, which invariably caused a smile among 
the men when he " shot his mouth off." Before speaking 
he would aim at a certain object six to ten feet away, and 
in size any where from a fly to the side of a house, and 



40 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

then with a swish, a long stream of tobacco juice would 
shoot from his mouth only to immerse either the fly or the 
house. If he failed to hit his target he would purse his 
lips for another try, but his aim was unerring at this short 
range, and what he had to say was never delayed by useless 
expectorations. He only tried the longer ranges when in 
idleness, and this being his natural disposition he seldom 
spoke, but perfected himself at target practice. 

"Who's cumun to bed," he yawned. After unloading this 
long speech for him, he walked away and was followed by 
the other men. 

" Joe, are you tired?" I asked. 
"Not a bit," he said. 

I knew he was prevaricating, for there was not a man in 
that squad who had not thought of feather beds after drill 
that night. 

"Well, come on, we'll go over to the canteen and see 
what we can see over there. ' ' 

"Hello there, Landers," called Seigel to a tall good look- 
ing chap, a war volunteer, seated by the cook fire, " What 
are you doing ?" 

" Getting used to the heat," said Landers. 
" Well, come along with us, old fellow." 
He asked where we were going, and I said "to the canteen." 
"I'm your man," said he. "Like the Kentuckian, I 
never refuse anything in the liquid line except water. But 
then I am presuming a whole lot about the refreshment 
part." 

"Yes, I think you are," I said, but then he seemed will- 
ing to chance it, and when I asked him if he was tired, he 
said, " No, not tired exactly — but sore; yes, and I might 

add, d sore, too. I have ridden horseback before, and I 

am quite accustomed and in fact am very fond of it. I was 
taught in a riding school, however, and not by Uncle Sam." 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 41 

Many a fellow who has ridden horseback before entering 
the cavalry service and thinks he knows everything about 
riding a horse, is more than often thoroughly well shaken 
out of his belief, and finds out later that he is more than 
ignorant on many points. The United States regular cav- 
alryman does not ride either like the farmer's boy or like a 
riding school pupil. No matter whether the horse is gallop- 
ing, trotting or walking, he never rises more than a couple 
of inches in his saddle, and his legs, from the knee down, 
hang naturally, and the stirrup is drawn just high enough 
to allow the ball of the foot to rest in it without crooking 
the leg. His whole body moves with each motion of the 
horse, thereby giving a graceful attitude to the rider. One 
can invariably pick out a man who has been trained in the 
cavalry service, by the way in which he holds his arms, and 
particularly the way he holds the reins in his left hand, 
letting them pass through his third and little fingers, and 
out again through his first finger and thumb, the hand 
directly over the pommel of the saddle. His right arm hangs 
naturally, the open palm to the rear. When his horse is 
in motion his arms keep the same position, and not like so 
many equestrians one sees with arms akimbo, resembling a 
large grasshopper on the horse's back. 

CHAPTER III. 

When we reached the canteen we found it well lighted 
with oil lamps and candles, giving it a ruddy glow that was 
dazzling to those who came on it suddenly. The place had 
a picturesqueness all its own; a few men had their six shoot- 
ers and cartridge belts on, for they had probably just finished 
guard duty and had come down to the canteen for some 
refreshments, as no enlisted man is allowed to carry his 
shooting irons promiscuously. The majority of the men 



42 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

were standing around singly and in groups with campaign 
hats pulled over their eyes, listening to a story teller who 
seemed to be the centre of attraction. He was giving his 
experience at a temperance meeting and we were just in 
time to hear him begin his harangue. 

" Silence, now byes and I'll tell my experience. " A hush 
reigned over the crowd and the speaker commenced : 

" Me and anuther fellow wint to a timperance meetin 
waust. The show was advertised all over the counthry with 
great big letthered signs and posthers with picthurs on thim 
— on the signs I mane, and not on the letthers, ye blithering 
ijits who are laughin at me or-a-toree — well, any how, sure 
the picthurs w T ere of a feller kneeling with a dozen min a 
holding him down as it looked to me. They made all the 
fair mindedness in me naycher rise up with in-dig-na-shun. 
Oi like to see a mon have half a chance for his libertie. vSo 
I ses to Jim, me bunkie, we'll ast for lave of absence this 
eviu and stroll over to town to attind the meetin. He ses 
all right and we did. ' ' 

Here the speaker gave a hitch to his trowsers, cocked his 
hat on one side and looked rakishly on the crowd around 
him. 

;< Whin we got to the place there was the biggest tint ye 
ever see; as big as all the tints in Camp Tampa if they were 
to be stitched togither the wanst. The place was il-lum-i- 
nat-ed wid what do yez call thim lamps ? Deli-ca-tesseut 
lights. Yis, thot's the name of 'em. Well, any how, the 
seats were nearly all took exceptin a few in the rear and we 
made a break for thim. Oi forgot to menshun that we had 
changed our snojer clothes for hand-me-down (civilian) togs 
before we left barracks. A guy was on the platfor-rm shoot- 
ing his mouth off, and we could jist hear part of his spache 
and he sid, 'he had been a bum and now he was saved,' and 
he was a foine lookin gintlemin at thot, too, in black clothes. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 43 

He sid that he had used tobacey in every for-rm. A raon 
the likes of him, oi thaught so thin and oi tink so now, needs 
savin, for oi only know of two ways to use the weed — 
chewin and smokin. Me fayther, praise be to his sowl, 
chewed like a true gintlemin, and so do oi; and I shmoke 
oc-ca-shun-ly, thaugh to me the chew is more bin-i-fischal 
to a nion than a shmoke. Ivery mou to his own taste how- 
iver. This fellow must have been a hoggish son of a gun 
to use it in ivery for-rm. He went on to say that his body 
had been sat-u-reated wid whiskey, too, and this only 
strengthened my horrer of the nion, to tink thot he wuduse 
good whiskey for bathing purposes made me rip roaring mad 
all over. I was gettin modder and modder, and oi wuz just 
about to git and dinouuce the slob, whin Jim saw the glit- 
ther in me eyes and he tould me to kape sthill. I was wrig- 
glin aroun in my sate jist itchin to land on the gintlemin in 
black whin two fellows saw me twisting and shouted out: 
' Another sowl moved by the sperit, here he comes, make 
way for the sinner,' and sich rot. Thrue, oi was moved, 
but not by the sperit, but by a couple of crazy loons who 
grabbed aholt of me, but I was too much for thim, for it 
took six of thim to carry me oop th-oisle, and whin they got 
me on the platfor-rm they set me on me feet. 

" The hoomer of the sit-u-ashun comminced to dawn on 
me and I laffed. Sa}* , fellows, I never saw so mony faces 
at one toime in my life before; the wimen snickered and the 
min haw-hawed, and I could see Jim, me bunkie, 'bout four 
moiles down the aisle, grinning from ear to ear, and say he 
hod such a big mout he could whisper in his own ear. I 
moved me hand to show him I re-cog-nized him and appre- 
ciated the joke as much as he did. 

" Whin I raised me hand the people applauded, tinkin no 
dout, that I wuz just about to spake; you know, fellers, 
that it wuz my de-but as a spache maker, and I attimpted 



44 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

to spake, but me tung wouldent work, and me poor little 
heart went pitter-patter and the cowld chills played tag oop 
and doon me back. 

" Brace up old mon, I sez to meself, your a decindent of 
a king, so you needent be afeard nor a-shamed. Give them 
a spiel of any owld sort. Them fellers thot are laughin' at 
me riference to me kingly ancestors needent, fur ivery 
Oirishmau is a king, and don't yez forget it." 

" Hurrah for Tim McCarthy," came from every quarter. 

" Yur bet cher loife Oim right, and if theres ony mon in 
the crowd that dishputes it let him sthep out." 

No one disputed his royal ancestorship, and Tim con- 
tinued : " Oi put me lift hand behind me back, so, and thin 
oi moved me other hand like a Jew tailor. 

il Ladies and gintilmin, Oi'm wid ye tc-night by invita- 
shun, persuashun and me own condesenshun, and all oi 
have to say is that I shmoke, chew and drink, and if any 
man wants to stop me, why he'll find me over in bar- 
racks to-morrow at any time. 

" And with that I walks out of the place wid Jim; that's 
the last time oi iver wint to a timperince meetin. 

" Did I hear any one say ony thin' about tratin' to 
drinks ?" He paused for a moment and hearing no echo in 
the affirmative, said, " Well, I thot I was mishtaken." 

The speaker bowed himself from before the crowd of 
admiring soldiers and was soon lost to sight in the moving 
crowd. 

From time to time one reads in the newspapers, a promul- 
gation to the effect that a crusade is about to be directed 
against the canteen. These enthusiastic crusaders are sin- 
cere no doubt, in their belief that his satanic majesty 
roams around this establishment with undaunted pleasure, 
contaminating both the bodies and souls of our country's 
defenders. If they ever had occasion to mingle with the 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 45 

soldiers, as soldiers, and not pose as reformers, they would 
readity understand how necessary the canteen is for the 
soldiers' comfort and the pleasure he derives from its 
presence. 

Is it a place where excesses are practiced? No; on the 
contrary, it is not. During my experience in Tampa and 
Puerto Rico, I can recall but very few instances where the 
men were immoderate or became intoxicated. This is a 
remarkable fact, when one considers the vast multitude of 
men gathered together, and an indisputable argument for 
its continuance. The men patronizing it are not contribut- 
ing their meagre wages to the overflowing coffers of some 
low dive or gin shop outside of barracks; but are assisting 
in maintaining a place where soldiers are the only patrons, 
and where no danger is likely to occur with outsiders or 
civilians. 

If a man is thirsty for whiskey, he will obtain it; if not 
from the canteen, from some outside saloon; and surely it 
is safer for all concerned that a man with this desire should 
be catered to at the canteen, where he knows that he dare 
not imbibe too freely of the cup that both cheers and ine- 
briates. If he does become intoxicated the chances that a 
sojourn in the guard house and a "blind" is the result. The 
majority of the men do not patronize it for this purpose, 
but it is a gathering place for the men where they can swap 
stories, smoke, eat and drink. In other words, it is the 
enlisted man's club. It is the property of Uncle Sam, and 
the profits are used to improve the mess of the soldier, giv- 
ing him something better than "government straight." 
Many of the barracks are equipped with either a library or 
a gymnasium, or perhaps both, and these institutions are also 
benefited by the profits of the canteen. Abolish it, and 
drunkenness, dissatisfaction and desertion will be the result. 

Next morning we were duly introduced to the mysteries 



46 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

of monkey drill. When the squad had reached the furthest 
end of the parade ground at a walk only, as Lutz did not 
wish to repeat, nor did we, the performance of the previous 
night, we were formed into a circle, Lutz, taking his posi- 
tion in the centre, acted as ringmaster; he lacked a whip 
but his tongue was even sharper and served to good 
purpose. 

" Trot" commanded the Sergeant, and as we were pre- 
pared for the word, it did not take us unawares, as it had 
the night before. Round and round we went in a circle, Lutz 
shouting out instructions such as "Don't stick your heels 
into that horse's sides;" "Sit on his back and not on his 
tail;" "Make that horse trot, not gallop;" "Halt;" "Dis- 
mount. ' ' Lutz did likewise. 

"Brown, lead your horse over to those trees yonder." 
The trees were about a hundred feet away. 

" Now, then," said Lutz, " Turn his head in this direc- 
tion, and when I say 'go,' hit him on the flank. Stay there 
Billy," said Lutz to his intelligent animal as it commenced 
to follow him; and Billy very promptly halted. 

" Hey there, Brown, are you ready?" shouted Lutz, as 
Brown reached the clump of trees and shouted back "Yes." 

" Remember now, give him a good slap — go." 

The horse approached Lutz on a trot and then on a fast 
gallop; Lutz stood directly in his track until the horse 
was within a dozen feet of him when, with a lightning-like 
motion, he stepped aside and as the horse came abreast of 
him, he grabbed the withers and mane, running a few feet 
with the animal so as to get the motion, and then, as the 
horse arose for the next step, he swung on his back with 
apparently no effort. 

This feat is not a hard one for a cowboy or cavalryman, 
in fact, it is one of the so-called easy stunts; but to the 
recruit it appears very difficult. No man inexperienced in 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 47 

the way of monkey drilling has the confidence or the temer- 
ity to stand in the path of a fast galloping horse. These 
horses are so well trained and understand so exactly what 
their duties are, that the recruit has nothing to fear, except 
his own lack of confidence, which he soon learns to over- 
come. Before drill was over that morning, every man had 
tried this mount both at a gallop and trot. There were two 
or three men who, through fear, could not persuade them- 
selves to attempt the trick, but the other fellows performed 
it very successfully and with no mishaps. 

Iyiitz was quick to appreciate good work, and he was as 
quick to compliment us on this morning's work as he had 
been to find fault the evening before ; it was his custom to 
find fault more than to compliment, however. The rest of 
the drill consisted of jumping over the horse's back, jump- 
ing over his rump and then landing on his back, picking 
objects, such as hats and handkerchiefs, from the ground at 
gallop or trot. These tricks were learned by the hardest 
kind of work under a hot, tropical sun, and at the end of 
three weeks we were considered competent to go on regular 
duty, or in other words, we were no longer recruits. 

In the piping times of peace a cavalryman is given from 
two to three months of monkey drilling, but owing to the 
fact that we were apt to be ordered to active service at any 
time we were rushed through the different drills in less than 
half the usual time, much credit being due to Sergeant Lutz. 
I would like to give one exciting experience of mine before 
drawing the curtain over our monkey drilling days. It 
almost cost me my life. One evening, during the early days, 
the squad was drilling on the parade ground; we were not 
familiar with the saddle then nor the use of the spur, and 
L,utz had forewarned us not to wear our spurs, but then, 
you know how it is with a know-it-all. Whatever possessed 
me to wear mine I don't know — but that is neither here nor 



48 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

there — I wore them. After executing a number of mauoeu- 
vers the command " Fours right into line, march" was 
given. The horse I rode was supposed to be the worst old 
cow of a thing, so I gave him the spurs, having seen other 
troopers on troop drill do the same thing time and again to 
their horses. My horse jumped forward as if he had been 
shot from a catapult. I pulled on the reins, which stopped 
him instantly, and I then tried to turn him to the right in 
the customary manner, by letting the reins fall on the left 
side of his neck and touching him on the flank with my left 
leg. The squad was not a quarter of a mile away, riding 
bravely along with Lutz at the head. I became irritated at 
the antics of my horse, and knowing that I would come in 
for a good share of jollying from the other fellows, I again 
attempted to make him turn around, and with a good tight 
grip on the rein, I let him have the spurs again. The animal 
stood for a moment as if he did not understand what was 
wanted of him, and then suddenly he reared and I wound 
my legs around him to prevent falling off. He pawed the 
air with a backward motion, then, in the twinkling of an 
eye, he toppled over, and when I opened my eyes I was lying 
with my face imbedded in the soft turf. I picked myself 
up half blinded, and looking around saw my horse 
galloping off in the direction of the troop street. Lutz rode 
up to me and alighting from his horse, asked me whether I 
was hurt ? What a question to ask a man, when a twelve 
hundred pound horse had turned a complete somersault 
backwards and had thrown him to the ground. Hocked at 
him to see if he was in earnest or not, and seeing that he 
was anxiously awaiting my reply, I said, 

" Oh, no; I'm not hurt. What made you think it ?' 
' ' You'd better make your bow and retire, ' ' remarked 
Lutz. " By-the-by who gave you that horse to ride, for 
he's the meanest critter in the whole troop." 



ROUGHING IT WIT) I THE REGULARS. 49 

" I don't know who it was now — guess I just took him." 

"Let me give you a bit of advice," said L,utz, "and don't 
just take any more; I did not notice the horse you had when 
we started out. You almost extinguished yourself this 
evening, for during all my years of soldiering I have never 
seen such a narrow escape and I congratulate you. You'd 
better go back to camp." 

I was rather jarred and bruised, and I could not walk 
without it paining me. It dawned upon me then that I had 
been the victim of a practical joke. The fellow who had 
called this horse ' ' the worst old cow of a thing' ' was so 
badly scared that he could not do enough for me afterwards. 
This is usually the way with practical jokers; as soon as 
they have killed or almost killed some one, they are 
repentant. 

The Fifth Cavalry was now recruited up to the war foot- 
ing of one hundred men to each troop. Five hundred horses 
were consigned to the regiment to be divided among the 
different troops. "A" troop receiving twenty horses; 
the)?- came from the western part of the country and were 
very fractious, some of them having been ridden but a very 
few times. Ten men were detailed to go to Tampa to bring 
them to camp, and the}* surely had their hands full on that 
day, for besides riding one horse, which was alone a difficult 
feat, with no saddle and bridle, each man also had a led 
horse. One of these new horses was a broncho pure and 
simple. Just as soon as he became separated from the others 
he began to buck and dance; he jumped in the air, back 
curve, head between his legs, etc. , but his rider was an old 
cavalryman and ranchman, and this was but sport for him. 
The broncho, after many fruitless efforts to throw him, 
seemingly quieted down, and then deliberately fell on his 
knees and rolled over. If Anderson had not been prepared 
for this, he would have been thrown over the horse's head, 



50 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

but he was on-to him, so to speak, and he leaped from 
his seat. The horse la}' still for a moment, panting and 
tired out. 

An admiring crowd of troopers gathered to watch this 
fine exhibition of horsemanship, and many were the com- 
pliments Anderson received for his pluck. He was a gruff 
old veteran and took it all as a matter of course that he 
could stick on such a pesky nag. He stood alongside of 
the prostrate animal ready to mount him again at a moment's 
notice. As quick as lightning the broncho jumped up— but 
Anderson was even quicker, for with a leap he was in his 
seat. After this the broncho was as meek as a lamb and 
perfectly willing to be led to the picket line. He made 
a splendid cavalry horse though once in a while his old habit 
of bucking would return, but he seldom misbehaved on drill 
for he was alwa) r s sandwiched between some of the older 
horses, thereb}' learning good manners. The old troop 
horses looked upon these new comers as intruders and 
treated them accordingly. When a horse became obstrep- 
erous and commenced to lord it over the others, he was very 
promptly punished and shown his proper place. 

The green horses were not given to the recruits for two 
reasons. Firstly, because it was all the recruits could do to 
manage a well trained horse at that time; and in the second 
place, these horses had to be drilled in the shortest time pos- 
sible, therefore they were given to the older men. 

I was unusually lucky in getting a splendid mount out of 
the twenty discarded horses. The list of names ran alpha- 
betically, so that the men whose names commenced with A 
had first choice and when my turn came there were but a 
dozen horses left. One horse had attracted me greatly by 
reason of his pretty head and neck and clean muscular legs, 
and as my name was called, I walked up to this animal to 
take possession of him. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 51 

" Hi, there, kid, don't take that nag," called out Corpo- 
ral Davis. 

" Why not ?" said I; "he's a good looking animal." 

" The devil with his looks — come over here and I'll show 
you a nag that can't be beat." 

I walked over "here" and Davis picked out a big scrawny 
horse, with a "J. Buckle" branded on his left flank. The 
contrast between the two horses was so great that I smiled 
in rather an insinuating fashion, as if to say : 

'• You don't know anything about it if you call that a 
good horse." 

" You can smile, my boy; but take my word for it and 
get that horse before the next fellow grabs him. He isn't 
good looking because he has fallen off somewhat, and he is 
rather off his feed at present, but you just take him, sonny, 
for he is one of the best jumpers in the troop, and you will 
find him all right. You know, in a rather confidential tone, 
he used to be Sergeant Smith's horse — the drill sergeant 
before L,utz — and the critter knows all the drills from A to 
Z, and all you'll have to do is to sit on his back." 

Without more ado I took the horse, and after thanking 
Davis for his voluntary information told him that I should 
probabl)- see him at the canteen later in the day to repay 
him for his trouble. 

My name was then checked off the list and Bouncer, my 
horse's name written opposite. I never regretted having 
taken him, for he was very intelligent, and under the care 
I gave him he became a fine looking animal. 

He was partial to sugar, for all I had to say to him was: 
"Bouncer, old boy, sugar;" and he would whinney and 
shake his head. ' ' Do you really want it ?" I would say, 
holding it just within reach of his mouth; and he would say 
just as plainly as he knew how, " Yes." I grew so attached 
to him that he seemed almost a part of me, and when I bid 



52 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

him good-bye iu Puerto Rico, my eyes filled with tears and 
I kissed his pink nose. After a horse has carried one 
through an active campaign, and been faithful and affection- 
ate to the last, and braved the same dangers, it is not strange 
that one gets to love him and have a strong attachment for 
him. But I am getting ahead of my story again. 

Next morning the green horses were taken out on regular 
drill, and acquitted themselves nobly. The skirmish drill 
seemed to be hard for them to understand, especially that 
part when the assembly is sounded and the long line of 
troopers wheeled into columns of twos or fours, which ever 
the command happens to be, but the dismounted skirmish 
drill seemed wholly unintelligible to them. 

For the knowledge of the reader I will undertake to 
explain the particulars of this drill. I have mentioned in 
the preceding pages that each man has a number and he 
understands exactly where his position is, and what his 
duties consist of iu executing a command. When a command 
is given ' ' Fight on foot' ' the numbers one, two and three 
dismount, take their carbines out of the boot. On 
each bridle is a leather strap with a spring clasp attached, 
and number four snaps his strap to number three's 
bridle, and number three to number two's bridle, 
and number two to number one's bridle; then num- 
ber three passes the reins over his horse's head and hands 
them to number four who remains mounted, thereby giving 
all four horses to the care of number four. The dismounted 
men form into skirmish line, and the drill is the same as the 
"doughboys" drill. The first platoon fires a volley and 
rushes forward and then two or three platoons follow on, 
each lying down alternately, and when the command sounds 
" Cease firing" and " Prepare to mount" is given, number 
four, who has followed the skirmish line is but a short dis- 
ance away with the horses. This is all done in much 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 53 

quicker time than it takes to tell it. The next manoeuver 
may have been a charge, and as we used the pine woods 
skirting the parade ground for our skirmish drills, it must 
have been a pretty sight to a spectator, as the troop gallop- 
ped out from the trees and with a wild "hi hi" charged 
the entire length of the parade ground. 

The "Rough Riders" were in camp next to the Fifth 
Cavalry. They were armed the same as the United States 
Cavalrymen, with the one exception, that they carried 
machetes instead of sabres. Many of them were expert 
horsemen, and then again, many of them were not; the lat- 
ter, of course, included the raw recruits like ourselves, who 
were perhaps college men, professional men, in fact anything 
but cow punchers. 

It was a common sight to see a Rough Rider go bucking 
across the parade ground before the order was posted up 
from headquarters prohibiting anything faster than a walk 
except when on drill. 

This regiment was composed of all sorts and conditions of 
men, from the half breed Indian to the educated and refined 
collegian. On one occasion when over at their canteen (as 
no conventionalities existed) I got into conversation with 
a fellow who looked as tough as the most horrible looking 
brigand one could ever imagine; in a very few moments I 
knew that he was not a cow puncher, and later, as our con- 
versation progressed, I found out he was from one of our 
large universities, and as he put it, " You know, old chap, 
I am just down here for me health; doctor prescribed it for 
me, ye know, haw haw; what will you have?" After 
exchanging compliments we separated. 

Taking the Rough Riders as a class, they were a fine bod}' 
of men through and through. Thoroughly American and 
most of them experienced fighters. Experts with both 
carbines and six shooters. One evening in Tampa a crowd 



54 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

of them became hilarious in a saloon and as a finishing 
touch they shot down all the glassware, mirrors and win- 
dow glass in the place. The store was a wreck and those 
who participated in the fracas were put in ' ' Clink. ' ' 

It was a caution to hear Teddy's boys cuss Uncle Sam and 
the "whole dam outfit" as they called the War Department. 
There were only eight troops which embarked for Cuba, 
leaving the other four troops to be about camp all summer. 
All one had to say to a Rough Rider was, ' ' Get any orders 
to strike camp?" At that he would sail in and want to 

know " How in h it was that those blankety, blank 

dough boys were going to Cuba, while right herein Tampa, 
were men who were used to roughing it and fighting all 
their lives. 

Indeed, there was a great deal of truth in this argument 
as the campaign in Cuba afterwards showed. 

The Young Men's Christian Association deserved the 
greatest praise for the work they did among the troops, 
both morally and in a material way. Their large tent was 
open for the free use of the soldiers from reveille to taps, 
and included both a reading and writing room. Periodicals 
and books were distributed among the men, as also were 
paper and envelopes, and postage stamps were also given to 
the men who were unable to pay for them, but these cases 
were rare. Many a mother and best girl owe their grati- 
tude to the Young Men's Christian Association. 

Every Sunday an open air prayer meeting was held, both 
morning and evening, for the men who were religiously 
inclined, — there was no contribution plate passed and the 
services were fairly well attended. The Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association can boast of having done splendid service 
for the soldier, and if my ex-comrades in arms will allow me 
to represent them in an informal way I would like to express 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 55 

our appreciation and thanks for the many favors extended 
to us by that organization. 

The first and most important thing to remember for the 
preservation of good health was, not to walk in the 
heat of the mid-day sun, thinking that you were roam- 
ing amid green fields in some Northern State as had 
been your wont; but to keep in mind the terrific heat 
you were exposing yourself to. Another essential was 
to limit your water diet and not drink such large quantities 
of ice water that your stomach resented it with indignation. 
This latter precaution was heeded not at all, for the regi- 
mental surgeon had said that it was injurious, and conse- 
quently we drank our fill whenever we felt like it. 

Each troop contributed its quota of sick report men to the 
surgeon every morning, who gave him patient pills, no matter 
what the ailment was; these pills were bean-like in form and 
almost impossible for a well man to swallow, but for a sick 
man it was an impossibility, and as one trooper said: "Say, 
I wouldn't swallow one of them damned spider eggs for all 
the money in creation." This seemed to be the general 
opinion of all the soldiers; for a man might go on sick report 
and get his little envelope of pills, but as for taking them, 
it was an utter impossibility. 

The men were becoming fretful and impatient. The rumor 
of our remaining all summer in camp seemed likely to be ful- 
filled, although every once in a while some fellow would men- 
tion having overheard something at headquarters relative to 
our striking camp. But large bake ovens were built in camp, 
re-establishing the opinion that the regiment would stay in 
its present camp indefinitely 

The news of our combined victories, on land and sea, at 
Santiago, were hailed with great joy and exultation. The 
men could not have been more enthusiastic if they had them- 
selves participated in those memorable battles. Hats were 



58 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

thrown in the air, and cheer after cheer was given, and the 
whole camp was mad with a fierce joy. Some of the men 
had newspapers sticking from their hip pockets, and I regret 
to say that the flaring color and head lines indicated that 
species of journalism as "Yellow." Their correspondents 
(who were nothing more or less than newsboys dressed in 
Kahki) overran the camp and reaped a harvest from those 
gullible individuals who are always to be found in every 
community. The papers lied so unequivocally and with 
such directness that it was positively irksome to read 
them. 

After the excitement caused by these victories had sub- 
sided the camp settled down into the same old routine life. 
Day after day rumors floated over camp that the two coun- 
tries were negotiating for peace, then a contradictor}- state- 
ment would come to us, from no one knew where, that the 
regiment would strike camp at an early date. The uncer- 
tainty of the whole situation was maddening, and the men 
became impatient under the circumstances. It finally came 
to such a pass, that if a man made any reference to having 
heard any rumor about striking camp, ox vice versa, and then 
finished by adding, "Now that's straight goods," as one of 
our tent mates wa in the habit of doing he could find no 
one to listen to him. 

This man with many rumors was an absolute bore, for he 
had a habit of collecting odds and ends < I :,ossip and weld- 
ing them into story form which he recited daily. His imagi- 
native powers were extremely well developed, and I honestly 
think that he believed his own stories, although we always 
took them with a grain of salt. Invariant though he would 
insist: " I told you so," or, "just as I have been saying 
ing right along, such and such would happen. We decided 
he was becoming too bright, so we planned a little scheme 
to stop his eloquence in the future. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

One afternoon we were lounging in the tent, as I remem- 
ber now, it was Friday, and we were shining up for 
inspection next day. Brinker, the man with the rumors, 
commenced to repeat part of a conversation he had commit- 
ted to memory, which he had overheard between two officers 
at headquarters while on guard duty the day before. There 
were about ten men in the tent at the time, and even- man, 
as if by one common impulse, commenced to talk on nothing 
in particular. I think the weather was the chief topic. 
Brinker's jaws were moving and he was doing his utmost to 
impress upon us the importance of what he was saying, but 
he was ignored as completely as if he had not been there. 
Then, with one accord, every man stopped talking except 
Brinker, who still continued his narrative in a loud voice. 
The effect of our strategy was instantaneous, and with a look 
of amazement his jaws shut with a click. Silence reigned 
supreme. A chameleon just outside the tent could be dis- 
tinctly heard jumping around. Stable call interrupted the 
mysterious quietness, and wejumped up without a word and 
walked down to the picket line, leaving Brinker seated Turk 
fashion, looking into space and doing a lot of thinking. He 
became wiser and never afterwards volunteered to report 
any more rumors. 

On July 13 a trainload of wounded soldiers, both regulars 
and volunteers, from San Juan Hill and El Caney, passed 
through Tampa on their way north. The train stopped for a 
few minutes and Seigel and I walked over to see the men 
who had helped to make San Juan Hill one of the famous 
battlefields of the century. The cars were at once sur- 



58 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

rounded by enthusiastic crowds of soldiers and civilians. 
The car windows framed the gaunt thin faces of those who 
were able to sit up, and their sunken eyes and hollow cheeks 
were proof of the hardships they had endured in the 
trenches. 

It was an exertion for many of them to talk, as one could 
see from the twinges of pain that passed over their faces as 
they tried their utmost to make merry with the bystanders. 
I saw two or three fellows who fainted from exhaustion. 

' ' Say, there, how does it feel to be shot ?' ' asked a curious 
citizen of a young fellow whose head was swathed in ban- 
dages. 

" Ever try it?" responded the soldier. 

" No," responded the inquisitive one. 

" Well don't then," was the rejoinder. 

Another fellow, with his arm in a sling, when asked the 
same question, replied, " That it didn't feel at all when he 
got his puncture. By the way — you're the 'steenth man who 
has asked me that question ; ask me something else. ' ' 

Those who were able to speak answered sarcastically the 
questions that were flung at them. The majority of them 
were young fellows, many of them not out of their teens; 
but they all bore their wounds bravely and stoically; not a 
murmur of discontent or complaint came from their lips. 

At the clang of the bell the train started on its northward 
journey, and a deafening cheer rent the air as the train 
moved off, and a very faint response came from the cars. 

Each man on that train must have had either a mother, 
sister or sweetheart awaiting him, and a feeling of righteous 
pride must have been in each breast as he thought of home 
and of the welcome and reunion with some loved ones he 
had left months before when he had marched forth in per- 
fect health. Home again, broken in health, wounded, a 
veteran; but home nevertheless. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 59 

This was our first glimpse of grim war, and it was not 
very encouraging to say the least. The stories we had heard 
of poor Spanish marksmanship were groundless if we were 
to judge by this trainload of wounded fellows. 

Many of the men had not become acclimated to the terrific 
heat, and they included many of the old enlisted men 
besides recruits. One morning I was completely prostrated 
after having drilled for a couple of hours under the fierce 
heat of the sun. For two days I laid ou my blanket 
unable to shake off the lethargy that seemed to hang over 
me like a cloud. I had not eaten anything during this time 
exeepting a couple of hardtack soaked in coffee. 

" Say, old man, I am going to Tampa to-morrow morning, 
do you want anything?" said my bunkie. 

" Chicken," I replied faintly. 

Government straight is not appetizing when one's stom- 
ach is out of kilter. Joe trudged to town next day along 
the hot sunny road, and I knew when he broached the sub- 
ject of going to town, that it was for my benefit, and I 
remonstrated with him for his foolishness in thinking that I 
needed anything dainty. All he answered was "Shut up 
and go to sleep. ' ' He walked into the tent a couple of hours 
later with a paper bundle under his arm. 

' ' Did you get it ?" I inquired anxiously. 

"Open it," responded Joe. 

I did as he bade me, and by the shades of the planet Jupi- 
ter, it was not chicken at all; but half a loaf of rye bread, 
slit crosswise, with a big piece of ham between the halves. 
The butter had melted and was oozing through the crust. 
I uttered a groan and sank back on my bunk. 

"Well," said Joe, "that's the nearest I could get to 
chicken." 

And I groaned again. I can see the thing now, grinning 
at me; for the ham sticking out as it did from the bread, and 



60 ROUGHING IT WITH 'THE REGULARS. 

the butter oozing out, made it look to ray morbid imagina- 
tion like those dragon heads we have all seen in the picture 
books of our childhood. Poor Joe ! He then told me that 
he had asked for chicken in half a dozen restaurants, and 
was successful only in the last place. 

"But say, Billy, the chicken! — well you ought to have seen 
it." And he went off into peal after peal of such infectious 
laughter that I could not help joining him, although I felt 
as sick as a dog. He drew an imaginary circle on the palm 
of his hand about three inches in diameter, and said: 

" The carcase was laid on a large platter which made the 
poor little thing look smaller than it really was. What will 
you take for it, I asked the negro waiter ?" 

"Seventy-five cents, sail." 

" For how many?" said I. 

" For one, sah;" said that unctuous individual. 

" I looked at him in amazement, and rubbed my eyes to 
see if I saw straight; and then argued with him and tried to 
beat him down, but it was no use for all he said was: 

" Now see hyah boss, you doan haf to take im if you 
doan want him at that price — somebody else will." 

" Well, give me a ham sandwich, I said, and here it is." 

"Say, my, but isn't it hot on that road! Whew! It is 
just like walking on a red hot stove." 

" How much did you pay for that ham sandwich, Joe ?" 

' ' Forty cents. ' ' 

' ' W-H-A-T !" I said incredulously, emphasing the word 
by spelling it. " Well you're a good thing and no mistake. 
I am much obliged, old fellow, just the same." 

He jumped from his bunk and stood in front of me 
with his fists clenched in a mock pugilistic attitude, 
"If you ever thank me again, I'll plant this bunch 
of fives in you somewhere, beware!" said he trying to 
look ferocious. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 61 

By way of explanation, when we had started out from 
New York, we had by mutual agreement made it a rule that 
henceforth no word of thanks should pass between us, 
hence his threat. 

" All right, I will beware; but confidentially, what are 
you going to do with that sandwich? I can't eat the 
thing." 

" Give it to Joe Dewey, then." 

" I must say that you are complimentary; y^ou buy a 
sandwich for me, and I can't eat the stuff, and then you 
offer it to Dewey. Never! There's a farm house across the 
tracks which we passed when we went swimming the other 
day. We can get eggs there, I'm sure, and to my mind's 
eye ham and eggs will be just the proper caper this evening 
for supper. What say you ?' ' 

" I'm after the eggs," said Joe, as he bounded out of the 
tent. 

" HERE," I called, tossing a fifty cent piece to him. He 
threw it back, saying he was in a hurry; " Wait 'till I get 
back," said he, "and I'll plant this in you, sure;" doubling 
his fist again. That evening we had ham and eggs for 
supper. 

Joe Dewey was our mascot. He was a nondescript Mex- 
ican dog and looked as if he had been pulled out at both 
ends, for his ears, body and tail were very long. He mea- 
sured about twenty-four inches from tip to tip, while he 
was only about six inches high. He was a mongrel, pure and 
simple, and was unusually intelligent, as such animals of his 
kind are; he could do everything but talk, and was one of 
those saucy little curs that looked at one with his head 
perked on one side, one ear up, the other one down, and 
a knowing look on his face, as much as to say, "Well, what 
do you want ?" 

He would walk up to a dog of any size, lifting his short 



62 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

stumpy legs rather gingerly, growling at the same time, as 
if trying to impress his importance on the other dog. 
If Dewey liked the other dog's looks, all well and good; but 
if not, he would make a rush on the other, always coming 
out victorious, with the assistance given him by the 
troopers. 

One afternoon while we were lounging in the tent an 
unearthly shriek split the air and then a series of ki-yi's 
followed that sounded very pitiful; we ran out to see what the 
excitement was, and looking toward the Rough Riders' camp 
from whence the sound came, we saw Joe Dewey running 
pell mell into the troop street, tail between his legs, his long 
ears lying flat on his head and yelping. 

Now the Rough Riders possessed two mascots: an eagle 
and a young mountain lion. Both had been in captivity but 
a short time, having been captured just prior to the mobili- 
zation of the regiment. 

The eagle was allowed the freedom of a plot of ground 
about fifty feet square; one end of a rope was fastened to his 
leg and the other end was secured to a stake which was 
driven about four feet into the ground. I mention this fact 
because he had pulled up the stake that he had formerly 
been tied to, in his attempt to soar skyward. His shackles 
however, caught into some guy ropes and held him fast until 
he was pulled down to mother earth again. He was always 
very docile until some one encroached on his domain, and 
then he would make for the intruder, on an awkward flat- 
footed run, wings outstretched and looking very ferocious, 
which boded ill for the unwelcome visitor. 

We afterwards learned that Joe Dewey had intruded upon 
Mr. Eagle and that the bird had flown at him, but Joe 
had retreated in good order. Joe then walked over to the 
cage of the mountain lion, sniffed and strutted around and 
then, as if challenging the big cat to a mortal combat, he let 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 63 

out a dismal half bark and half howl, and squatted directly 
in front of the cage, blinking saucily. The lion resented 
this familiarity with a vengeance, for he gave one shriek, 
and Dewey tumbled over in the sand from fright and after 
gaining his equilibrium, never stopped running until he had 
reached "A" street. 

Poor little Dewe}- did not recover his usual good spirits 
that whole day. He was cuddled and petted by the troopers 
who used most endearing terms, such as " Oo poor ittle fel- 
low, was oo most scared to deff," etc., but all he could do 
was to moan piteously and shake. This was the only 
instance that I can remember when he showed the white 
feather. He went to Puerto Rico with us, and was under 
fire and behaved like a true little soldier. He had vices and 
virtues for he could smoke a cigarette or pipe, and then, sit- 
ting on his hind legs with paws crossed, he would say his 
prayers with a very solemn expression. In fact, Joe Dewey, 
you were a wonder, and woe betide the man who ill-treated 
you. 

Tampa City was a poor city before the troops arrived; the 
houses were low, mean and dingy, and paint seemed to be 
an unknown quantity on them. Everything had an old, 
dilapidated appearance, such as one sees in many Southern 
towns. The streets were mud holes in wet weather and 
sand hills in dry weather. The principal street in town was 
brightly illuminated and the other streets were pitch dark 
and infested with low dives and gambling dens. These 
resorts were crowded every night and the wild orgies held 
in these places could be heard all over town. The sokbers 
seemed to outnumber the citizens at the ratio of three to 
one. Thousands of dollars were spent in Tampa while the 
troops were in camp there, and yet the storekeepers charged 
outrageous prices, especially the restaurants, "'or it was im- 
possible to get a square meal for less than sevent3*-five cents. 



64 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

On the 4th of July the citizens made no effort to celebrate 
the Nation's birthday; quite to the contrary; they were 
phlegmatic, and utterly lacked the patriotism which one 
sees in the hustling towns of the Northern States. The 
flags were so few and far between that if there were any 
hung out I can't remember having seen them. There was 
no display of fireworks, and the whole town would have 
been dead to the world on the night of the Fourth if the 
troops had not "whooped" it up. 

The Tampa Bay Hotel, just outside of the city and about 
half a mile from camp, was a very imposing building of red 
brick and brown stone, and was partly hidden hy palms and 
other trees; it was crowded most of the time with officers 
and their families, although Captain Macomb seldom pat- 
ronized it. 

About July 1 8th, the troops were paid off. Some of the 
regiments, including the Fifth Cavalry, had seen no money 
for two or three months; when the news spread in camp 
that the pa}anaster was ready to distribute the ' ' Long 
Green," the glad shouts were to be heard all over camp; 
and when the men had actually received their money, such 
antics I never had seen before, nor have since seen. It was 
a common sight on the afternoon we were paid off to see a 
couple of troopers go dancing back to the tents or some fel- 
low would do a handspring or a back flip, and then we 
would hear sung out from tent to tent that popular air, 
" There'll be a hot time in the old town to-night." And 
there was a " hot time" that night, for the gamblers from 
Tampa flooded the camp. Each gaming table was lighted 
with an oil torch and, as far as the eye could reach in every 
direction; these lights burned like so many Will-o'-the-wisps 
to lure the soldiers. The games were not five or ten cent 
affairs either. Everything went from a one to a twenty 
dollar or more limit. The roulette, monte and dice tables 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 65 

seemed to be the most extensively patronized, although all 
kinds of gambling games were in progress that night. The 
gamblers just coined money, and it was a regular bonanza, 
to be sure. 

Next day an order was posted up at headquarters to the 
effect, that the first gambler who set up his outfit, or any 
soldier seen patronizing him would be punished accordingl}'. 
Notwithstanding this order the gamblers continued every 
night for a week to set up their tables just outside of the 
camp, for the accommodation of a few. The men who pat- 
ronized these games finally dwindled down to a hand full 
who had been lucky ; but finally even they lost all the}- had 
to these sharks or else had the good sense to quit the game. 
In a week's time everything had quieted dowu and many a 
man was penniless. The next muster for Troop A was in 
September. 

Now I would like to devote a few lines to mj r old ex- 
comrades at arms, the United States Regulars. The reader 
may then draw his own conclusions. 

We will begin with his morality or immorality, as many 
people believe that he has no morals at all ; perhaps it will 
be well to cite one instance of this. 

One evening I was talking to a civilian and the topic of 
our conversation swerved around to the army, and the regu- 
lar as a man. He vehemently asserted that the regular 
was an immoral fellow and not fit to associate with decent 
men. I was rather startled by his vehemence for I had 
always considered him a liberal man and the injustice of 
this remark was so foreign to him that I naturally demand- 
ed an explanation and his reasons for such an assertion. 
I merely said, " I am an ex-regular myself Mr. . " 

" But, oh, there are exceptions to all rules, " he said. 

' ' Nevertheless I should like to hear your reasons for 



66 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

making such a rash statement. You must have some ad- 
equate reason for misjudging him as you do. " 

And do you know, reader, the only reason he could 
give was that he had overheard a conversation of a couple 
of Regulars on the docks at Newport News, and they had 
used some swear words. 

" Now, see here, Mr. , you don't mean to tell me 

that you, as a fair minded citizen of these great United 
States, can make such a declaration against the regular 
army as a class because of this one instance." 

" Well, I have read about the Regulars iu the newspapers, 
too," he replied lamely. 

" What newspapers," I inquired. 

" I can't recall them just now," 

' ' How long ago was it that you saw these articles ? ' ' 

" Oh, about fifteen, twenty years ago, and " 

But I interrupted him by saying, "Well, you're not 
competent to judge of the standard of the regular army to- 
day if you make any such comparisons with the army of 
twenty years ago. ' ' 

I then went on to explain to him that there had been a 
time when the regular army had had a rather shady reputa- 
tion ; more so in the west than in the east. During the 
seventies, when Indian outbreaks were of almost daily oc- 
currence, any able bodied man, with little or no recom- 
mendation, could enlist in the army, and no questions asked. 
Some of them were convicts and fugitives from justice, and 
were typical bad men; but, that was twenty years ago. 

Under the new order of things, say for the past ten years, 
no man could enlist without his enlistment papers being 
signed by two or more reputable citizens, and the man him- 
self obliged to show a good character, also having to read 
and write the English language. It is not my intention to 
make the Regular appear as a demi-god; for, quite on the 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 67 

contrary, he is not. He swears occasionally, smokes, chews, 
drinks and gambles, but he is moderate in each. He is no 
more blasphemous than the average American citizen, nor 
are his vices any more numerous. There is a certain Free 
Masonry that exists between them, no matter to which 
branch of the service they may belong. 

During the late unpleasantness with Spain, the relations 
between the Volunteers and Regulars were rather strained. 
The reason for this was, that the press lavished so much 
praise on the Volunteer and little or none on the Regular, 
that the latter looked upon the others as usurpers, and 
consequently had nothing whatever to do with them. 

I do not wish to deteriorate one iota from the reputation 
of the Volunteer, for the excellent services he performed in 
the Spanish-American war and the services he is now doing 
in the Phillipines. It is generally conceded by officials and 
the reading public alike, that the Volunteer is a splendid 
specimen of a soldier, but, at the same time, one must not 
forget the homage due the Regular. The writer admits 
that although the Regulars, in general, did not leave home 
and all its comforts to fight for their country, as perhaps 
the Volunteers did, yet he is susceptible to flattery, and 
when his work is well done, he likes the assured apprecia- 
tion of his countrymen. 

Physically, he is well and sound; otherwise he would not 
be in the service. A few years ago about all the campaign- 
ing the regulars had were practice inarches two or three 
times a year, or an occasional chase after a band of renegade 
Indians, which seemed like child's play to the severe tests 
they were put to in the tropics. The climate was entirely 
different from that of any part of the United States. Rain 
storms and hot sunshine came with fits and starts, and the 
suffering of the men in their flannel apparel was intense. 
Our Government has rectified all this since, and the soldiers 



68 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

now wear the comfortable kahki uniforms and rice has been 
added to the Government straight making their food suit- 
able for the climate. 

So much for the Regular. 

The troop had now become thoroughly drilled in scout- 
ing, outpost duty, alarms at night and sham fighting on 
foot and horseback under a scorching sun. We had target 
practice both with carbine and revolver three or four times 
a week. The only thing to do now was to await develop- 
ments. We recruits from the first had been received by the 
enlisted men as "hail fellows well met." A few pranks 
had been played on us, but only on those who had been con- 
sidered "fresh." One chap was sent to the First Sergeant 
for "butter checks." He marched off and asked for them 
with a confident air, but Sergeant Drake said " he was out 
of them," whereupon he sent this innocent recruit to the 
Commissary's who happened to be out of them also, and 
from there he was sent to the Quartermaster. He reported 
to the cook, that he had been unsuccessful in his search for 
them. Another fellow was sent over to the Rough Riders' 
camp for a "tent key" as the canvas on some of the tents 
was " getting loose." This man after trotting around for 
a while, asking for the loan of a key, came back looking 
much wiser, 

Only one man was tossed in a blanket, and he deserved 
it, for he was wise all the time, telling what he had been 
before enlisting, his high social position in Cincinnati, his 
family's wealth and other little fairy tales which became 
tiresome to us fellows. A dozen of us got a blanket one 
afternoon, three men to a side. Blank was deposited in the 
middle and then we commenced to snap him. 

"How's this for social position, Blank?'' "Did you ever 
have a better one in Cincinnati?" as he fell in the blanket, 
his arms and legs stretched out like a huge bug. He was 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 69 

ever after this experience much more companionable. It 
rather took his pride away and made him, what we all were, 
a soldier, and not a blue shirted society swell. Another 
favorite trick that was played on the recruits was to touch 
the inside of a tent just above their bunks during a rain 
storm making the water drip through on the unsuspecting 
fellow. 

Just to illustrate the contrast between two officers, with 
whom I came in contact. 

Captain Macomb was a splendid officer, a gentleman in 
the truest sense of the word. He was a man who could be 
relied upon to lead his men into the jaws of death if ordered 
to do so. He was not reckless, but utterly fearless. He 
was a man of fine physique, and above all had a noble face. 
His hair was black and curly and he always looked as 
though he had stepped out of a tonsorial parlor, so carefully 
was it combed. Black moustache and dark gray ej^es and 
with just one look at his face and a grasp of his hand one 
could say that he had met a manly man. The men realized 
this, and why ? He was always ready to do them a service, 
with a helpful word of advice or the loan of a dollar or two 
to some poor devil of an enlisted man who told him a hard 
luck story. He never put a man in the guard house unless 
that man had imposed upon his good nature, and I have 
heard the men say, and it was the feeling of every man in 
the troop, that if "Captain Bill" (as he was nick-named) 
would lead them into hell itself, they would follow. This 
was rather an exaggerated expression, but true neverthe- 
less. 

On the other hand there was Lieutenant of " K " 

Troop, the officer with whom I had had the incident at the 
pump upon the first day of my arrival in camp. I have 
never seen a man who could inspire such hatred as this 
officer could amongst his subordinates. The men detested 



70 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

him so that whenever his name was mentioned, a general 
expectoration was indulged in by the speakers. 

One morning " K" Troop which adjoined "A" Troop on 
the left, came in from a hard drill. We had had a squadron 

drill of "H, I, K and A" Troops. Lieutenant was 

not pleased with the performance of his troop during drill, 
and as he was the Troop Commander at the time he kept 
them out in the hot sun a while longer as punishment. We 
"A" Troop men were seated in our respective tents when 
' ' K " came marching in. The customary alignment was 
executed before dismounting, but one recruit could not 
manage his horse at all, and his balking broke the whole 

line. Lieutenant let out one scream of unprintable 

language, calling the poor fellow all sorts of vile names. 
We all lifted the tent flaps to see what the rumpus was 
about and were just in time to see a most brutal and un- 
called for exhibition of temper. Lieutenant rode up 

to the man shouting and gesticulating and then struck him 
a vicious blow with his fist, almost knocking the man out 
of his saddle. The racket had attracted quite a crowd of 
idlers just as the blow was struck, and many angry mur- 
murs arose from the crowd, but the men were powerless to 
go to the rescue of their comrade in distress. This trooper 
would have been perfectly justified had he reported this 
officer at headquarters. He could have claimed redress 
through a court-martial, but the matter was dropped. 

Another exhibition of this officer's brutality I saw in 
Tampa City. Seigel and I had been over to town, and we 
were walking back to camp when we .saw an officer's horse 
tied to a hitching post in front of a store. The horse had 
walked up on the sidewalk and was standing there when 

Lieutenant made his appearance. He punched his 

horse in the flank, "just out of pure cussedness,'-' Seigel 
said; the animal commenced to dance around the post, 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 71 

whereupon Lieutenant picked up a barrel stave and 

pounded the poor animal until it cringed under the beating. 
A crowd of soldiers gathered but no one dared say an}' thing 
— in fact it would have been positively foolish — for 

Lieutenant would have had charges preferred against 

him for being disrespectful to an officer. 

The officers of the regular army as a class are a splendid 
body of men. It is only such an exception as I have just 
mentioned which is a menace to the general deportment 
and morale of the army. 

It was just after dinner on July 25th that Sergeant Drake 
poked his head into the tent saying: 

"We have orders to strike camp immediately — start this 
afternoon at two o'clock for Port Tampa." 

What a deafening shout went up ! It sounded as if all 
the devils in bedlam had been let loose, and every man cat- 
called, whistled and yelled his joy. We jumped around as 
if we were possessed, hugging each other and generally do- 
ing those things that one could hardty expect to see any 
where else but in camp. Almost a week before, the troop 
had received twenty days traveling rations, but we had at- 
atched no importance to it, as a number of other troops had 
received the same. Brincker said, "I told you so," but we 
were so overjoyed at the prospect of moving, and perhaps 
getting a shot at something other than the targets which 
were set up in Tampa Bay, that we actually listened to 
Brincker and nodded good-naturedly when he uttered "I 
told you so." 

The order to strike camp was given about 11.30 A. M. 
and by 1.30 P. M. six army wagons were packed with the 
camp equippage, ammunition and rations. Two o'clock 
came but no orders to march. Three, four and five o'clock 
dragged along and the men were becoming impatient; even 
then the general opinion was that it was in all probability 



72 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

just a drill. About six o'clock the orders to march that 
day were countermanded and we were to start at sunrise the 
next morning. The excitement that had made us so im- 
patient to get away changed to a disgruntled feeling and 
when we laid down to rest that night we had little confi- 
dence of getting away from Tampa at all. The one question 
that we asked of each other was ' ' Where are we going ? ' ' 
Every man had suggestions to make ; some that we were 
going to Cuba to do police duty, others that we were going 
to the Phillipines, and still others thought that there was a 
possibility of a Puerto Rican campaign. The other eleven 
troops were envious of our good fortune and they looked 
very glum as they watched our busy preparations. We had 
time and enough to spare to throw a few gibes at them, 
wishing them a pleasant sojourn in camp and asking them 
how soon they would follow us. They flung back at us 
that "they would a good deal rather stay in camp all sum- 
mer and run chances on the surgeon's pills than with the 
mauser pills;" but our retort was "Sour grapes." 

When reveille sounded next morning, the wagons had al- 
ready moved on to Port Tampa. Assurance now overcame 
the feeling of uncertainty of the previous night. Boots and 
saddles sounded immediately after breakfast. Every man 
was fully equipped for the indefinite campaign. Behind 
each saddle was packed a blanket and a couple of changes 
of underwear. Each man had one hundred rounds of am- 
munition, both for six shooter and carbine. No cheers 
greeted us from the regiment as we marched across the pa- 
rade ground. We expected no demonstration of that sort, 
however, for Troop "A" had been separated from the regi- 
ment some years and was more on the order of an indepen- 
dent troop. 

It was a fine sight to see the cavalcade go out, with the 
red and white guidon at the head, giving just the desired 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 73 

touch of color to the column as the wind caught its folds 
and straightened it out showing the letter "A" and the 
figure "5" beneath it. Route order was given, and laughter 
and a general scratching of matches or some fellow calling 
for a "chewterbacker" was the result. The whole troop 
to a man wore a happy, contented expression; human na- 
ture is a queer thing. Here we had been in camp for a 
couple of months out of harm's way, perfectly safe, but new 
as soon as there was a possibility of getting a shot at the 
enemy we were glad. It did not seem possible that we were 
to embark in a couple of days for some foreign shore under 
sealed orders. The whole thing seemed impossible and un- 
real, but the cartridges in the belts looked sinister and busi- 
nesslike as they glistened in the sun. 

CHAPTER V. 

Upon arriving in Port Tampa two days of the hardest 
kind of work followed. The wagons were taken apart and 
stowed in the lower hold of the transport together with the 
luggage and ammunition. Each man took his turn below 
to assist in the packing, for the air was too foul and op- 
pressive for one to stay there any length of time. Negro 
stevedores made a pretense of working, but they were so 
slow and lazy that we dispensed with their services in a 
hurry. Most of the loading was done the first day, and 
everything was in readiness for embarkment with the excep- 
tion of loading the horses and mules. 

No trouble was experienced when loading the horses for 
they seemed to know just what was expected of them, 
though a few shied, naturally, at the strangeness of their 
surroundings. But the mules ! Four men escorted each 
mule, two at the head and two in the rear to tickle his 
muleship along. The switches for this purpose were about 
six feet in length and not any too long either; the mules 



74 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

seemed to glory in this work, or kick rather, and they en- 
joyed it as much as the troopers, that is, the lookers on, 
not the escorts, for they were using all their persuasive 
powers, both mentally and morally, or immorally and physi- 
cally. 

The morning of the second day everything was in readi- 
ness and about two o'clock that afternoon we sailed for our 
destination. Nobody knew where, but then the enlisted 
man is not supposed to know anything but to obey orders. 
The Transport "Cherokee" sailed just before the "Morgan" 
with the Eleventh Infantry on board. It was rumored that 
"Troop A" would join them in Puerto Rico, and this after- 
ward proved true. 

The "Morgan" was an obsolete sidewheel steamboat, and 
belonged to the Morgan L,ine of steamers. She crawled be- 
tween Galveston and New Orleans and other Gulf ports; 
"crawled" is a capital word, but of that anon. She had 
been used as a cattle and passenger steamer, accommodating 
about seventy-five passengers, and about one hundred head 
of cattle could be conveniently stowed away on her lower 
deck. We had one hundred and twenty-five head including 
the mules. The state-rooms, of which there were about 
fifty, were located directly over the cattle deck, which made 
it very unpleasant for the occupants. We found this out 
when we had been under way but a short time, as a number 
of troopers who had appropriated them came running up on 
the top deck holding their noses and gasping for breath, 
and we used the top deck to sleep, eat and live on during 
the whole voyage. Captain Macomb, and Lieutenant Valen- 
tine who had been detailed to the troop the morning that 
we left Tampa, and who had been subaltern in "K" Troop, 
each obtained an exterior stateroom aft which were not so 
malodorous as the others. The ship had quite a spacious 
dining-room, furnished rather richly in silks and velvets, 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 75 

but very old and much soiled, and the air was so musty 
that it chilled one to walk through it. A steward and a 
couple of waiters were in attendance constantly, cooking all 
sorts of good things that were not meant for us. 

That evening the lights of Key West were sighted where 
we were to stop for ice, which had been unobtainable in 
Port Tampa, The channel was heavily mined, and the ar- 
rival and departure of ships was prohibited between sunset 
and sunrise; we anchored outside of the danger line till 
sunrise. The first rays of the morning sun found everybody 
scanning the bay which was dotted here and there with 
yachts — but on closer inspection they proved to be part of 
the Mosquito Fleet. These little boats appeared almost 
ridiculous in their smalluess and in their gray war paint, 
but the quick firing guns that peeked over their sides, how- 
ever, spoke volumes. 

Key West glistened in the early morning sun like a fairy 
city; the smooth, glass} 7 , cobalt blue sea reflected the build- 
ings on its surface like a mirror. The "Morgan" steamed 
slowly up to one of the piers and then the stevedores com- 
menced loading. Pickaninnies, or as they are most com- 
monly known, "alligator bait," swam around the boat and 
occasionally a hardier swimmer than the others would dive 
under the boat and reappear on the other side, grinning at 
us from ear to ear. Sharks abound in these waters and in 
fact two or three were seen swimming around the ship, but 
these little chaps did not seem to fear them at all; it must 
have been because they were so small for the majority of 
them were hardly larger than a good sized water melon, 
some not any older than three or four years of age. Money 
was thrown to them and as the little fellows always fought 
and held each other from diving after them, the coins would 
sink to a good depth before some youngster had freed him- 
self from the embrace of a rival pal; but the money was 



76 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

always brought to the surface, the little black body shin- 
ing like ebony and a triumphant grin on his face. A sabre 
dropped overboard into about thirty feet of water and a re- 
ward was offered to the one who brought it up. Time and 
time again they attempted to locate it, but the bottom of 
the harbor was covered with mud so the chances of finding 
it seemed rather slim. Eventually a little fellow about ten 
years of age, bobbed into view, his little arms and legs 
wound around the sabre tightly, as if he were afraid that it 
might be taken from him by a larger boy. A hat was im- 
mediately passed around and the troopers contributed 
enough money to keep the little fellow supplied with candy 
for a long time. 

Four o'clock that afternoon the hawsers were cast off and 
the "Morgan" steamed out of Key "West harbor for her 
destination: either Cuba or Puerto Rico, but no one knew 
where. A school of porpoises swam at the bow which was 
considered a good omen. Some of the men had not got 
their ' ' sea legs ' ' yet and many a man paid his respects to 
Father Neptune that night as the ocean swell struck the 
ship. 

The days passed by into a week and all we could see was 
ocean and sky on our port and the mountains of Cuba, 
Hayti and San Domingo on our starboard bows. No con- 
sort accompanied us and it would have been the easiest 
thing in the world for a naphtha launch with a six pounder 
on board to have sunk our poor old hulk, as we were never 
out of sight of land during the entire voyage. 

Our food consisted of canned salmon, canned corned beef, 
canned roast beef, canned tomatoes, hard tack and coffee. 
The fish was found to be tainted so it was thrown over- 
board. Quite an extensive menu, but everything was 
canned, canned, canned. Imagine a dishpan filled with a 
reddish, greas3^ substance with a streak of yellow stuff here 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 77 

and there and a faint idea of the canned beef can be had 
when ready for service. This canned stuff is advertised as 
a specially prepared dish for campers and hunters; this may 
be true and in all probability it is, but even supposing it is, 
let me tell you that these campers and hunters do not rely 
on it as a diet. Some of the men refused to touch it and 
subsisted on tomatoes, hard tack and coffee. One fellow's 
reason for not eating it was, that it was too greasy and slimy 
and that the colors reminded him too strongly of the Spanish 
flag. The meat controversy has been settled, however, and 
I have no desire to resurrect this question that caused more 
actual distress than any other of the many "inconveniences" 
of our varied experiences. 

Seigel and I bunked on the top deck alongside of the 
captain's cabin; it was one of the most desirable spots on 
board ship for more than one reason. Firstly because it 
was in the shade most of the day, secondly it was just a step 
downstairs when mess call sounded and lastly but not least, 
it was directly over the steward's quarters. Oh! the odors 
and delicious smells, or anything one wishes to call them. 
How the3* floated up to us, one after the other; meats first, 
then the vegetables and pies and coffee. It was tantalizing 
to think that a good dinner was within arm's reach with no 
prospects of touching it, until finally one day I said to 
Seigel "how would you like to be on Broadway in front of 
a swell restaurant, Joe?" and all he said was "I'd rather 
be on the Bowery — 5 T es sir, on the Bowery, in a cheap hash 
house. ' ' And he continued by way of interlude ' ' How 
much money have you got ?' ' I had forgotten all about my 
nione}\ Well I did not have very much and that was prob- 
ably the reason; I emptied my pockets and found eighty- 
five cents. 

"And I have a dollar ten," said Joe, " I've got a scheme 
and I'm going to have a dinner to-day if it takes a leg, so 



78 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

here goes, ' ' and he walked down stairs to interview the 
steward. 

I called after him not to get any ham sandwiches or 
chicken either, but he was intent on getting the dinners so 
he did not hear me. In a few minutes he poked his head 
above the stairs and said softly. 

"Say, Will." 

I responded with alacrity, for I knew by his happy ex- 
pression that he had been successful. 

' 'That black nigger of a steward wants a dollar and a 
half for two dinners — is it all right if I give it to him ? 

"Give him anything," I replied, "what's he got 
anyway ? ' ' 

"Roast beef, tomatoes (not canned), corn, peas, po- 
tatoes — 

" Stop, do you mean to tell me that you hesitated ? Give 
him the dollar and a half and tell him he can count on five 
dollars more when I reach New York." 

The bargain was closed and that day we did not eat 
Government straight. 

"Say, Joe, you've got a shirt on your back, haven't 
you ? ' ' 

"Yes, but what's that got to do with this salubrious 
dinner?" he inquired. 

"Well, so have I," I said, ignoring his question. 
"We'll need both before we get to Puerto Rican soil, if the 
old Morgan doesn't get a move on her." 

Joe smiled slyly and gave me a wink, and then com- 
menced to laugh, a most hazardous thing to do because his 
mouth was full. Something went down his windpipe and 
he sputtered and choked, and I straightway gave him the 
old time remedy of slapping him on the back, at the same 
time telling him to empty his mouth. He stared at me 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 79 

with wild eyes until I thought he had gone insane over the 
dinner. Finally he choked out: 

"I'm all right." 

"I doubt it," said I. 

' ' Well what do yo\x think that I was going to do, waste 
twenty cents worth of this feed just because of a little diffi- 
cult}' in swallowing? My boy, you don't know me, I never 
throw money away in that fashion." 

After we had topped off on pie and coffee, Joe said: 

" If I only had a Panatella cigar, I would give you a 
good imitation of a man smoking." 

" Here have a cigarette and shut up for heaven's sake, 
5'ou' re never satisfied," said I, handing him my cigarette 
papers and tobacco bag. 

We enjoyed this dinner so much that we scraped together 
our belongings for future trade. I had a razor that I did 
not want — one dinner. My campaign hat, of which I had 
two, went for a dinner also. Joe had a match box which 
represented another dinner, so life, after, all had its bright 
side and the truthfulness of that old proverb: "The nearest 
way to a man's heart is through his stomach," I can vouch 
for, as perhaps man3^ others can. 

Another fellow who was also partial to a good dinner oc- 
casionally, decided to part with his silver watch, provided 
he could get the price he thought it was worth — eight 
dollars. He asked Seigel to sell it for him. Joe at first 
refused but finally after much persuasion consented to nego- 
tiate some sort of a trade with the steward. He realized 
the hopeless task of getting eight dollars, but made the 
best of it, by putting on a bold front and bearding that 
supreme individual in the ship's galley, and after much 
dickering with that worthy, succeeded in getting five dol- 
lars and a half out of him. 

" I'll tell you how it was," explained Joe afterwards. 



80 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

"As soon as I poked my head in the kitchen, the nigger 
said, 'I hain't got no time boss, so run along now and doan 
you boffer me.' I expected some song and dance on this 
order and I was prepared for him, I held up the watch so he 
could get a good look at it, and I said 'how much?' He 
came forward with his eyes glued on the time piece with all 
his natural cupidity aroused. 'How much,' said I again 
rather testily, just as if I did not want to part with it at all 
but was doing it more as an accommodation for him — 'how 
much, quick ? I can't stand gupping with you all day long 
— I want eight dollars — that's the price.'" 

He looked at me with a grin and said 

" I'll give 3 r ou just three," holding up that many fingers. 

' ' You'll see me in h before you get it for that price. ' ' 

" All right, mah fren, you'll see me dere befoh I give 
you enny moh." 

" Now see here pal," said I, "you're on the make, aren't 
you ? ' ' And he nodded in the affirmative. 

Then I used a few long words — 

' ' Procrastination is the thief of time. Here I am pro- 
pugning the intrinsic valuation of this here handsome, 
Riverside, ten jeweled, twenty-four hour, solid silver watch 
to you, and your obnoxious declaration in the negative to 
my courteous appeal is wholly inconsistent with the ex- 
pansion of my insidious profundity, so please do not persist 
in your absolute exploded idea of Shylockism, and I ask 
you to desist. ' ' 

I was winded and I took a side glance at the negro to 
see how he took it. 

' 'Yes, sah," said he, for his amazement at my intellectual- 
ity was apparent and he allowed me to go on with my ar- 
gument without a word. 

" Now see here, steward, let's split the difference and say 
five dollars and a half for the watch — it's worth it." 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 81 

But my eloquence seemed to be all wasted on him for he 
was obdurate. Then I took another start and went on to 
explain to him that the money would all be his eventually 
any way, when suddenly a happy thought struck me. 

"Wouldn't you rather have five dollars and a half than 
three dollars?" He began to enumerate on his fingers, for 
he was perplexed without a doubt. He knew there was 
"a nigger on the fence somewhere," but could not exactly 
locate him, so after calculating for a few moments he blurted 
out: 

" I'd get two dollars and a half moh, wouldn't I boss?" 

"Sure thing," said I, and I added mentally, we'd be get- 
ting a couple of more dinners out of you; however, that is 
just incidental. 

" I'll be back in a minute," said the steward, as he ran 
away for the moue3 r . 

"Say, but he was easy and I could not help but chuckle 
to myself, but I must have been smiling very broadly for 
when he came back he looked at me very suspiciously. In 
his hand he grasped a stocking that was filled with all sorts 
of things, buttons, needles, pins and what not, and he 
dumped the contents on a table, and picked out five dollars 
and a half in silver and handed it to me. Before doing so 
though, he weighed it in his hands as if he wasn't sure if 
he were being flim-flammed or not. the example was too 
much for his black brain, and he gave up solving the prob- 
lem, and I gave him the watch. 

" How much do I owe you Joe for commission?" said 
Landers, the former owner of the watch. 

" I'm not in the business now Landers, but I'll tell 3'ou 
what you can do, you owe Oliver fifty cents and me fifty 
cents, lend us fifty cents and we'll call it a fair, square 
deal. ' ' 

" You're not in the business did I hear you say," was 



82 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

Landers' inquiry, "I think that you are very much in the 
business, anyhow here's a dollar and a half and I'm much 
obliged to you." 

We were in funds again with a dinner apiece staring us 
in the face. The steward was never sure whether he had 
been buncoed or not, any way he got the money all back 
again. There was no limitation to what we would have 
bartered, if the voyage had been prolonged another week. 

The evening of the third of August the dim outline of a 
ship was seen directly ahead. The man-o'-war, as she 
proved to be, signalled the Morgan to slow up and as the 
order was not complied with speedily, she fired a blank 
shot to expedite matters. The paddle wheels of the old 
Morgan stopped with a groan as if welcoming the rest after 
a continual revolution of eight days. The two boats were 
now within hailing distance of each other. 

"Ship, ahoy." 

" A} r e, a)-e, sir." 

' ' Who are 3 r ou ? ' ' 

"The U. S. Steamship Morgan." 

" Hold away and we will board you." 

All was dark on board of her except the red, green and 
white signal lights which now worked up and down rapidly; 
presently her signals were answered by other ships both in 
the front and rear. The waters seemed to be alive with 
war ships and where before the inky blackness of the night 
obscured objects a hundred feet away, a dozen searchlights 
were now played on the Morgan in blinding flashes illumi- 
nating the water in long streaks of white light. The creak 
of oar-locks was heard and we craned our necks toward the 
cruiser. Suddenly out of the darkness there shot a boat 
full of sturdy Jackies. In a moment the boat was along- 
side of the Morgan and a dapper officer climbed the rope 
ladder, vaulted the rail, knocked into a couple of troopers 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 83 

and with a "make a gangway, please," mounted the com- 
panionway three steps at a time, and was soon in deep con- 
sultation with Captain Macomb, Lieutenant Valentine and 
the ship's Captain, whose name I cannot recall. 

The Ensign, or whoever he was, was evidently as hurried 
in his speech as in his actions, for he soon re- appeared and 
with a spring was over the rail, down the ladder, and be- 
fore one could say "Jack Robinson" was off to his ship, 
which was the Montgomery, as we learned from the sailors. 

The Morgan now steamed slowly ahead, and ever}'- once 
in a while the colored signal lights of the warships twinkled 
like stars, and then all would be in darkness again. About 
10.30 that night we anchored off Cape San Juan, Puerto 
Rico, twenty-five miles from the city of San Juan. Before 
taps sounded that night we were ordered to overhaul our 
shooting irons, and load both carbine and six shooter as 
there was a probability of a bit of target practice on shore 
next morning. We all knew what this target practice 
meant, and the troopers greeted it gladly. At sunrise the 
following morning, reveille was sounded and the few men 
who were not already astir, soon joined their comrades on 
the starboard side of the ship. What a truly beautiful sight 
as one gazed inland ! We were about half a mile from shore 
but the atmosphere was so clear that it seemed scarcely a 
stone's throw. On Cape San Juan there was a light house, 
and what flag was that flaunting its red and yellow poles in 
our faces so boldly? The Spanish flag and no mistake. 
This then was the reason of the order of the night before to 
overhaul our shooting irons. Beside being a light house it 
was also used as a signal station by the Spaniards and there- 
fore quite a necessary adjunct to them as well as to us. It 
had been used but two nights previously by the Spaniards 
for signal purposes, so our anticipation of a brush seemed 
about to be fully realized. 



84 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

The plan of attack was for the marines and blue jackets 
to effect a landing in a sheltered cove just to the left of the 
light house, and for them to charge up the steep embank- 
ment on which the structure stood. If they were received 
impolitely Troop "A" was to be held as a reserve, while 
the Montgomery participated in a little practice shooting. 
The light house seemed deserted, and not as one might have 
expected with the defenders firing volleys at us. The 
structure stood out in bold relief against the verdant green 
of the surrounding hills ; it was built of white stone, prob- 
ably granite, rectangular and two stories high. A very 
handsome little structure and well worth more than the 
price paid for it. The mountains receded from the shore in 
masses of green and purple, and far up on some mountain 
side a little hamlet or the roofs of the plantations peered out. 
To the east of the lighthouse, the peaceful little village of 
Fajardo nestled between two high hills, and the houses came 
almost to the water's edge. Crowds of curious natives flock- 
ed to the shore and others to the surrounding hills for a good 
view of the coming spectacle. They must have watched 
our mauoeuvers with much speculation and wonderment, as 
to what these foreign ships were up to, for the Montgomery, 
the monitors Puritan and Amphridite, two or three aux- 
iliary cruisers, a couple of inquisitive newspaper boats and 
lastly the poor old Morgan must have presented a very for- 
midable appearance to these poor, humble folk. 

The whole scene was so utterly reposeful and quiet that 
our intrusion seemed almost sacrilegeous and barbarous. 
War, as depicted in song and story of former days was a 
terrible thing ; a hundred years ago this whole island would 
have been ravaged by fire and sword. All sorts of atrocities 
would have been practiced on these simple islanders. But, 
now, that civilization and humanity have made such rapid 
strides for the betterment of mankind in a moral sense 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 85 

such a condition of affairs as the needless killing of human 
beings would be looked on by the world as a horrible deed ; 
whereas one or two hundred years ago it would have had to 
come in the natural course of events. The traits of the an- 
tediluvian man have gradually been superseded by dip- 
lomacy. 

The Morgan rises and falls with the gentle ocean swell. 

"Here they come, boys" was mouthed around in eager 
and excited voices. 

What a splendid sight surely as the boat loads of marines 
and blue jackets put off from the Montgomery and the moni- 
tors. The Jackies in their white duck suits looked natty 
and business-like as they took the water in long clean sweeps 
and the longboats shot through the water under their 
powerful stroke. There were eight in all. 

Some of the Jackies were singing ' ' A hot time in the old 
town to-night" and as the air floated toward the Morgan, 
it was caught up by the troopers and joined in with a hearti- 
ness, that evidently startled the natives on shore, for they 
stood up as if awaiting something. Probably they never 
heard the song before ; if they had not, it was not long be- 
fore they did, because it was sung from one end of Puerto 
Rico to the other to the words of : 

" Well, well, well, we gave those Spaniards h 1 

Well, well, well, we gave them shot and shell, etc. " 

The song finally ended up with a prolonged cheer, which 
was joined in by every man on every ship in the harbor, and 
the interested spectators on shore moved to a better point of 
vantage to view the expected fracas, for any moment the 
crack of the mausers was fully expected. 

The boats n eared the shore and the Montgomery steamed 
up to within a quarter of a mile of the beach to take a hand 
if the occasion required. The marines jumped into the 
water, knee-deep and rushed up into the shelter of some 



86 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

trees and the blue jackets joined them as soon as they had 
beached the boats, and then with a yell they charged 
through the thick underbrush which concealed their^ move- 
ments for a few moments. These few moments seemed a 
life-time to those in the ships. Not a sound could be heard 
but the echo of the yell which the hills threw back. The 
suspense was tantalizing for at any moment we expected to 
hear the mean spiteful crack of the Spanish musketry. 

Suddenly the charging sailormen burst into view and sur- 
rounded the light house and then charged it with fixed bay- 
onets. The enemy had retreated however the night before, 
and there was not a shot fired. It was a surprise to all 
that the Spaniards had put up no argument as everybody 
confidently expected that they would make a pretense any- 
way of defending their position. If they had been at all 
troublesome however, the Montgomery and Monitor would 
have blown them to atoms, as the range was only a quarter 
of a mile and the house made a perfect target. The capture 
was probably one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, of the 
Spanish-American War. The Jackie who climbed the flag 
pole and tore down the Spanish flag, and furled "Old 
Glory" in its place, must have been the happiest and 
proudest of mortals that day. If the cheering had been 
loud before, it was now increased a hundredfold and lasted 
for fully five minutes as the flag was broken out to the 
breeze. 

If travelers in foreign lands experience delight at seeing 
the flag on our ships and consulates, think what every man 
must have felt, to see it raised on that earl} 7 tropical morn- 
ing. Many an eye grew moist at this beautiful sight ; the 
blood throbbed through one's veins, as if the body could 
not restrain its impetuous course ; it made one tingle all over 
and the eye to sparkle. The natives on shore now dispersed 
and perhaps in years to come, they will take their grand- 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 87 

children on their knees and tell them how yonder lighthouse 
was captured by the Yankees without a shot. 

The troopers were greatly disappointed at not having an 
opportunity to stretch themselves on terra firma again. 
How every man craved just one square foot of earth to 
stand on ! The voyage had now consumed nine days and 
sixteen hundred miles had been traversed. One hundred 
and seventy miles a day. Seven knots an hour. If a good 
healthy storm had ever struck the poor old ship she would 
have probably foundered helplessly and gone down to 
' ' Davey Jones' locker ; ' ' but luckily the weather was fine 
throughout the voyage. 

The water was becoming stale on the Morgan and that 
afternoon we made fast to the Puritan which was equipped 
with a water condenser and we obtained a thousand gallons. 

We learned from the Jackies that the prospects for an 
active campaign seemed good. General Miles had landed 
at Guanica about twenty-five miles from Ponce on the south 
side of the island on July 25th. The first landing was made 
by the blue jackets from the saucy little gun-boat Glouces- 
ter. All this information was taken in by the troopers 
with great eagerness and it stimulated us, for the fiasco on 
shore that morning had been a keen disappointment. 

Having replenished our supply of water, we cast off and 
anchored a short distance away. The word passed around 
that we were to start that evening for Ponce. 

Now for a few words regarding the stock on board ship 
and the privations they underwent during the voyage. 
Their suffering was intense. They were so crowded that 
no horse could lie down without being trampled on, and the 
strain from standing in one position continually for ten daj T s 
made them so stiff when disembarking at Ponce that many 
of them were unable to walk. The new horses especially 
were kicked and bruised so hy the other horses, that some 



88 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

of them were masses of running sores which filled the hold 
with a horrible stench. 

Every two hours the guard had to be relieved as the air 
was suffocating. A lantern sent out its yellow rays about 
ten feet in diameter and there the guard was obliged to stay 
and watch. Daylight struggled through the port holes and 
just outlined the shadowy forms of the horses. The mules 
were quartered further back and separated from the horses 
by a partition ; there was a constant uproar in their com- 
partment, kicking, biting and hee-hawing, but the troopers 
were not responsible for the actions of these pesky brutes as 
the mule skinners were divided into a separate guard to feed 
and water their own stock. 

If the horses became fretful and quarrelsome, it was the 
duty of the guard to quell the disturbance, as best he might, 
either by words of persuasion or by personal investigation. 
It was almost as much as a man's life was worth if he were 
obliged to perform the latter duty, as he had to dodge 
under the necks of a dozen or perhaps two dozen nervous 
horses before he came to the culprits. 

It was the duty of the men who had stood guard the day 
before to feed and water the horses on the following day. 
Ordinarily three men and a "non-com" are detailed for 
guard, but the circumstances during this voyage necessitated 
six men for this purpose. 

Dodging under the necks of eighty-five horses in a place 
as dark as pitch, with either a pail of water, a nose-bag full 
of oats, or an armful of hay, yelling at some fractious animal 
to ' ' back up ' ' or slapping another on the flank to turn him 
around, so that one could pass under his neck instead of under 
his hind legs, rubbing against another, that stunk so with 
running sores that it made one's stomach roll, was not a job 
on which any man could congratulate himself. 

When taps sounded that night, the Morgan was at her 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 89 

anchorage and when reveille sounded next morning, we 
were in the harbor of Ponce, steaming slowly, past big men 
of war, little gun boats, transports and foreign merchantmen. 
Away off to the right, about half a mile, were gathered the 
Spanish prizes, ranging in size from a little pleasure j'acht 
to the big four masted sailing ships ; about ten in all. 

We anchored along side of the transport ' ' Cherokee ' ' 
which had anived in port almost the week before. The in- 
fantry or ' ' doughboys, " as I shall hereafter refer to them 
by the above soubriquet, were unloading onto the cascoesor 
lighters that were clustered around the ship. 

Nature had formed a natural harbor and left the perfect- 
ing of it to the ingenuity of man. The Spaniard has the in- 
genuity but he lacks the American trait — push. Here the 
same as San Juan and Mayaguez, the next two largest cities 
to Ponce respectively, the natives have done the same as 
their forefathers before them for scores of years. 

What's the use of channelling these harbors and building 
docks and wharves sothat commerce could have free leeway ? 
The same facilities for the unloading and loading of vessels 
are at hand in the shape of these antediluvian lighters, and 
even if they are obsolete and consume more time, haven't 
they got all time to do things in? You ask a native why 
these improvements have not been made, and he will listen 
to you attentively, but all the answer you will get is, an 
impassive shrug of his lazj^ good-for-nothing shoidders, and 
a " Si Senor mauana. " "Manana" that is the secret of 
Spain's downfall both in the eastern and western hemi- 
sphere. She has no one to blame but her own corrupt col- 
onial government and "manana. " 

These cascoes were from twenty to thirty feet in length, 
ten feet wide, eight feet deep and holding from ten to 
fifteen tons. Two natives stood fore and aft to push it 
along with poles. 



90 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

Native peddlers in their cockle-shell boats surrounded us 
in a matter of fact way, just as if we had come from the 
States to buy their vegetables and produce. 

"Americano mucha bueno. Mucha, mucha bueno." 
This homage was appreciated, but we did not throw them any 
money. The steward had it, every cent. They paddled 
around for a few moments, but finding no one offering to 
buy their wares, paddled away to the other ships, and as 
they departed, they said entirely different things from the 
complimentary remarks that they had greeted us with. 

I have often thought that it was a lucky thing for them 
that we were not as familiar with the Spanish tongue then 
as we were afterward, for the men were in good spirits and 
full of "devilment," and these natives would have had 
other things than money thrown at them. 

Really it was amusing and very inconvenient at times 
during the months to come. These Puerto Ricans had got- 
ten the exploded idea into their heads, that every American 
soldier was a sort of a bloated bondholder, and that he carried 
a pair of scissors in his pocket just to clip off the coupons. 

CHAPTER VI. 

The little town which lay directly in front, about a quar- 
ter of a mile away, with its well graded, clean streets, and 
low fiat roofed houses, was what is familiarly known as the 
Port, of Ponce, the city proper being two or three miles 
further inland. The houses were of that one or two story 
adobe affair so common in all Spanish- American countries. 
Their different shades of sky-blue, pink and yellow made 
them all the more conspicuous and picturesque by the back- 
ground of mountains, that rolled gracefully back until the 
furthermost peak was lost to view against the bluest of blue 
skies. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 91 

The longer one gazed at this panorama of tropical loveli- 
ness, new scenes were disclosed, the same as when looking 
closely into a master landscape. One by one, perhaps a 
native far up in the mountains, could be seen walking, or a 
dog, sheep, cattle or a partly hidden roof of some plantation 
or native hut, peeped through the groves of palm or mango 
trees. 

Almost every house in the port had a flag displayed, 
either British, German, French, Italian or American. It 
would have been positively suicidal for the occupants to 
have shown the Spanish flag and they probably laid claim 
to the first nationality that came along. The flag makers 
in and around Ponce must have been working over time 
those days. 

Clustered on shore almost on the water's edge, were a 
number of of wooden houses and ramshackle buildings, the 
latter being occupied by fishermen and boatmen. Soldiers 
with arms full of boxes ran to and from the lighters to the 
warehouses in one continuous stream, resembling an army 
of huge ants. Army wagons were drawn up to the lighters to 
receive the luggage that was thrown out, and as soon as one 
wagon was packed it moved away to make place for another. 

Everything was in a state of hustle and bustle, and in 
total contrast to the reposeful tropical surroundings. The 
natives of both sexes lounged around in groups, watching 
with lazy interest the finishing touches to the campaign 
which was almost prepared to move on the city of San Juan, 
if it had not already done so. 

We watched all these new scenes with varied interest, 
commenting or pointing out some new feature that had been 
passed by unnoticed with " Ha — ahs. — Ses — but say that's 
out of sight, etc." But how we itched to walk on some- 
thing solid again and not to feel that we would be obliged 
to jump overboard in many fathoms of water before touch- 



92 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

ing Mother Earth. We were all gratified to hear that the 
work of disembarking would begin that afternoon. 

The mules were led out first from the "pest hole" as the 
hold had been nicknamed. The}' seemed to be none the 
worse from their close confinement, barring the bright light, 
which affected their eyesight. In fact they were more cussed 
than ever because the badness had been pent up for ten 
whole days. As soon as they set foot on shore, they rolled 
over and over in the sand, kicking and hee-hawing just for 
pure delight in living once again. This five minute roll was 
all the recuperation they needed, for as soon as the wagons 
were put together, these hardy quadrupeds were pulling and 
tugging at the heaviest loads, with the same patient spirit 
that is the mule's chief characteristic when in harness. 

On the other hand the horses had been ravaged terribly 
by the foul air and the filth. They were all so weak and 
stiff that it was all they could do to crawl, and loading them 
on the lighters was an all afternoon job. Some of the men 
barely recognized their own mounts, they had become so 
emaciated. I had tied my horse when embarking at Tampa 
on the extreme end of the first line of horses, with his head 
directly in front of a porthole, so that I could attend to 
him at any time of the day or night if he required it. But 
he was perfectly able to take care of himself, being an old 
cavalry horse, and beyond giving him a caress now and then 
I found it necessary to do but little for him ; he was in first 
rate condition. 

To see some favorite horse crawling along, barely able to 
lift his legs, when two weeks before lie had been well and 
full of life, was a pitiful sight. The men cursed the gov- 
ernment for its bungling carelessness, and then with a 
" Come on old fellow, we'll soon fix you up, won't we?" 
the poor brute would be led across the gang plank into the 
lighter. The troopers talking to them all the time in low 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 93 

endearing tones as one might to a sick child. It was a 
burning shame and a disgrace for the quartermasters' de- 
partment that such a thing was allowed to be. The reader 
may not be able to comprehend my vehemence at such out- 
rageousness, but if he could have seen those horses that 
day, he would, perhaps, have understood the feelings of the 
troopers. 

By six o'clock that evening the horses had all been un- 
loaded and were tied to a picket line on shore. Two of 
them were shot as the only humane method of relieving 
them of their bodily pain. Harry had been in the troop for 
years and when old Fisher, our farrier, was ordered by 
Capt. Macomb, to shoot him, he refused, and as he put it: 

" Vellers, I couldn't no more gill dot poor old horse dan 
I could gill myself. It vould pe yust like murder. " 

Harry was not killed, but as we afterwards learned, re- 
covered, and was used for an artillery horse. Poor old 
Fisher, he was a kind old chap, even if he did get the 
D. T's so badly that he would run and tear around, and 
yell that "Dey vere after him again" and upon being asked 
what, he would moan : 

"Rats, alligators, pink, green vans. See, dere dey go. 
Don't let dem kotch me — save me — save me " and then he 
would go into a faint. 

I have often heard fellows say, that if they could get as 
much out of a pint of whiskey as old Fisher could, they 
might have indulged more frequently. 

The town was full of soldiers of all the different arms, 
both volunteers and regulars. From the latest reports, a 
brush with the Spaniards had taken place two or three days 
previously on the outskirts of Ponce, resulting in the wound- 
ing of a few American soldiers and a few casualties on the 
Spanish side. We had precious little time to gossip for the 
next two days as every man had to get in and hustle with 



94 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

the unloading. On the morning of the third day since our 
arrival in the bay, everything had been transported to the 
city proper and we followed that evening, riding our horses 
bareback to the ground which had already been allotted us 
for camp. 

The road connecting the port and the city was a splen- 
did bit of engineering, hard and as level as a billiard table, 
sheltered on both sides by stately trees. Beautiful villas of 
white stone lined the road on either side along the whole 
route to the city. 

We went into camp just outside of the city limits, and 
the first rain storm which we had encountered on the island 
came rumbling along and then it poured buckets full. 
When I say "buckets full " it may be a slight exaggeration, 
and ' ' cups full ' ' would perhaps be a more appropriate word. 
It soaked everything and that night we slept on the wet 
ground, having first eaten all the bacon, hard tack and coffee 
we could stow away. 

Talking of bacon reminds me of a little incident that 
occurred the first day we landed. As I have stated in the 
previous pages the men were heartily sick of the canned 
stuffs and many of them vowed that the very first porker, 
which they happened to run across, they were going to take 
off their hats and bow to him, cut him up, cook and eat him 
all at once. Now the Puerto Rican hog is not the same 
sort of an animal one sees on the average farm, but is more 
of the Kansas razor back variety. The Puerto Ricans, like 
the Irish peasants, allow their swine to walk in and out the 
front door (there is only one door any way) or in other 
words, he is one of the family. Just as soon as a native 
is able to support a pig, he is looked on enviously by his 
less fortunate neighbors, as a Broadway beggar looks on 
the swell aristocrat in his automobile. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 95 

It was late in the afternoon of the first day on shore and 
we had tied the last batch of horses to the picket line. 
Suddenly an unearthly ha ha rent the air ; the same kind of 
a ha ha one hears in cheap melodrama, when the villian has 
corralled the heroine. It is a diabolical sound. Looking 
in the direction from whence the disturbance came, we saw 
little John AVagoner bowing and scraping at the thinnest 
apology of a pig I ever saw. It reminded one of those wooden 
images one sees in a Noah's ark, although it was not nearly 
as well formed ; its back was a series of Z's set up sideways, 
and it had long black hair, long legs, big ears and a straight 
tail. John continued to bow with sixteenth century elegance, 
sweeping the ground with his hat, while the poor aston- 
ished porker stood in the middle of the road with its ears 
cocked forward, and then it vanished down the street squeal- 
ing terrifically with short legged John in hot pursuit. 

The pig was better acquainted with the lay of the land 
for it managed to elude John, and when he made his appear- 
ance a few minutes later, perspiring and decidedly hot 
around the collar, one of the troopers spoke up, "You al- 
most caught him, John," in half inquiring, half bantering 
tone. 

"Yes, almost," said John ; "but if he had only stood for 
me. If he had only stood for me," then shaking his fist in 
the direction the pig had disappeared, he ejaculated, — " He 
was a Spanish pig, any way — did you see how he ran ? ' ' 

Ponce was the rendezvous of all military operations at 
that time. The three expeditions which invaded the east- 
ern, central and western portion of the island, diverged from 
this point; the plan being, for them to capture or drive into 
San Juan any opposing forces and then with the combined 
co-operation of Sampson's fleet, the capital was to be assaul- 
ted from both land and sea. The practicability of this most 
excellent plan was never tested, for on the 13th of August 



96 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

the Protocol stopped all hostilities. In fact the whole plan 
was identically the same as the Santiago campaign, with 
one exception, however — the Puerto Rican campaign was 
an almost bloodless one, perhaps for the reason, that it never 
reached San Juan. But then one must consider that if the 
troops had not been moved by an expert and experienced 
General, when marching toward that city, if the proper 
precautions had not been taken, to prevent any such serious 
mishaps as occurred at Santiago, the troops would probably 
have suffered a heavy loss, as the flower of Spain's army was 
quartered on the island, including both regulars and vol- 
unteers. Even with the heavy odds that faced them, either 
a surrender or being bottled up in San Juan, they opposed 
our advance stubbornly at times. 

Before an American soldier ever set foot on Puerto Rican 
soil, General Miles was well acquainted with every strateget- 
ic point on the island. It was all laid down in black and 
white, and the exact points he could not utilize on the of- 
fensive or defensive. The troops were moved with almost 
mathematical correctness. Just as the expert chess player 
maps out his game before touching the chess board, perhaps 
he does or does not know the weak and strong points of his 
adversary, but as the game proceeds he is fully prepared to 
take advantage of the former or to guard against the latter 
with all the skill he may possess. So did General Miles 
conduct the whole Puerto Rican campaign from the very 
start. Because he did so, it was generally looked upon by 
the people in the States as a sort of holiday picnic for the 
soldiers. True, it was no such nightmare as the Cuban 
campaign, but then it was no picnic either. Like the 
woman who got on the street car with a string of half a 
dozen children and upon being asked by the conductor if it 
was a picnic, replied ' ' Naw sor, their my schildren and its 
aw picnic." 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 97 

Comparisons are odious. It is an easy matter when you 
have made an error to see afterwards where you could, per- 
haps, have rectified it. 

Our luggage, which was stored in Ponce, we did not see 
again for almost two mouths. It was very evident that the 
campaign before us was to last indefinitely, and that the 
work was to be done as quickly as possible, and without 
hindrance as to surplus luggage. Each man carried an 
extra blanket besides his horse blanket, an extra suit of 
underwear and a slicker, those who were not so fortunate 
as to own one of these indispensable rubber coats carried 
ponchos, which are the most useless of all the sensible ap- 
parel with which the soldier is clothed. It only protects 
the upper half of a man; his legs, when these things were 
designed, were left out of consideration, as a useless non- 
entity. The men protested against drawing them, but 
every man was obliged to draw one whether he wanted to 
or not. About all they were used for was to roll the blanket 
in to keep it dry. One of the troopers remarked: "Gee, 
but I'd like to be the poncho contractor, he must have a 
devilish big pull at Washington to make us draw them 
chinamen coats," as the ponchos were called. 

On August 7th we were assigned to the Brigade com- 
manded by Brigadier General Theodore Swan. We were 
in camp just a day and a-half, more to rest the horses than 
for an}' other reason, and the afternoon of the 8th, about 
2 o'clock, troop "A" started for the City of Yauco, about 
twenty miles from Ponce, to join the command. 

As we marched along the well- shaded road the natives 
stood aside to watch us; some of them removed their big 
straw hats and made obeisance to us in the most humble 
manner, as was the custom, probably, during the Spanish 
regime, when a soldier was a principality all b}' himself, 
and treated accordingly by the natives. Others shouted 



{8 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS 

that the "Americano was mucha bueno," but we noticed 
that the better class eyed us with stolid indifference, or 
frowned on us, but they, the well dressed, were so few and 
far between that we were heralded for two or three miles 
out of town, each and every trooper as a Don Quixote. 

About 10 o'clock that night we crossed the Rio Macana, 
a typical Puerto Rican river, sluggish and shallow, and en- 
camped on the one street of the Pueblo of Guayanilla, 
having marched more than twelve miles over rough moun- 
tain roads at easy stages, for the horses were unable to 
stand any strain as yet. We had passed our two wagons 
some six miles in the rear, so we sat down and waited for 
one of them, the food wagon, to put in appearance. We 
waited and waited, and finally, about 12 o'clock, the am- 
munition and fodder wagon came trundling along, the mule 
skinner informing us that " Our wagon had broken down 
some five miles back; " meanwhile, the men who had stowed 
away hard tack in their saddle bags got them out, and 
shared with their less fortunate comrades, and with a bar- 
rel of molasses, which the natives contributed, we made a 
very sticky meal. The horses were fed, and we turned in 
with small care for what the morrow might bring forth. 

The peons for miles around must have flocked to the 
village over night, for barefooted men and women and 
naked children surrounded the camp on every side the next 
morning. They jabbered and pointed out the peculiarities 
of our uniforms, especially the blue shirts, for it seemed to 
be beyond their comprehension why we should wear such 
" caliente " shirts, when it was a matter of fact that they 
were very cool. These natives were friendly, but very shy; 
but their childlike curiosity overcame their shyness in a 
short while, and they approached confidently when they 
saw that no harm would befall them. It was a picture 
worth seeing, to see some trooper standing in the centre of 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 99 

a crowd of a dozen natives, explaining to them by signs 
and " inucho malos " and " mucho buenos " the mechanism 
of his Krag carbine, and the amazement on the coffee- 
colored faces as they handled the shooting iron, looked 
through the barrel, sighted it, and behaved like overgrown 
children. 

Boots and saddles sounded after a bite to eat, for we were 
to make Yauco, about twelve miles away, that afternoon. 
Just before we started, a traiuload of ' ' doughboys ' ' whizzed 
by, going to the front somewhere, we afterwards learned 
that it was the nth U. S. Infantry on its way to Yauco, 
which refutes the statement I made in the preceding pages 
that the column was at Yauco awaiting us. The Artillery 
was the only branch there, and the Infantry and troop "A" 
met it that day. We had a fifteen mile march over preci- 
pitous mountain roads, being obliged to dismount at times 
and lead our horses, because the trails were so narrow and 
steep. About noon we approached Yauco, which we could 
see two or three miles in front, from our high elevation. 

The nth Infantry was just leaving the town as we 
marched past the cheering crowds of natives who lined 
both sides of the street. The troop went into camp im- 
mediately, and soon the bnzzey-cots were set up and the 
bacon was sizzling away in company with the coffee in the 
big boiler. After dinner, we laid around for the remainder 
of the afternoon, until 5 p. m., when we took up the march 
again to Sabana Grande on a trot, overtaking the dough 
boys after trotting about five miles. The)' were the hap- 
piest, go-lucky looking lot of men as they ambled along, 
dust covered, and hot perspiration running down their sun 
burned faces and arms in streams, their sleeves being rolled 
up, singing and throwing gibes at their comrades with it 
all; they carried their guns in the most comfortable position 
that was convenient. 

LcTC. : 



100 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS 

As we passed them on a gallop, some dough boy bawled 
out — "What's the matter with troop 'A?' " and then a 
medley of voices replied, " Why, they're all right." 

" Who's all right?" 

"Troop 'A.'" 

Then to the chorus of " There'll be a hot time in Puerto 
Rico to-night " we passed them, but we soon had to slacken 
our pace, for the transportation of the Infantry blocked our 
way. 

The regulation wagons had been dispensed with and re- 
placed by ox carts. There is only one thing slower than a 
living Puerto Rican ox, and that is a dead one. 

A native driver, or leader — for the beasts are too stupid 
to be driven — walks in front of the yoke, and by clever 
manipulation of a stick several feet in length, touches that 
part of the animal which is slower than the other parts. 
For instance, if the brute forgets to pull his left hind leg 
after his others, the leader makes a thrust encarte with his 
switch, which sooner or later awakens the animal to his 
duties. The natives shout at their teams so, that it is a 
wonder that they are not dumb and the oxen deaf with so 
much noise. It is sort of a falsetto "yi-hi," very apt to 
make one jump who is not accustomed to it. 

We threaded our w T ay in and out, and finally, about 9 
o'clock, marched into the town of Savana Grande. On the 
other side of town we could see through the trees the red 
glare of the bivouac fires of the Artillery. The braying of 
mules, the lowing of oxen and the shouting of natives made 
a most confusing hubbub. Men, women and children 
scampered from underneath our horses' feet as we trotted 
into town. 

Taps had already sounded when we reached the Artillery 
camp. Bright fires illuminated the prostrate forms of the 
sleepers and the shadowy upright forms of the sentries as 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 101 

they passed to and fro. Silence prevailed over the whole 
camp, for even the mules had quieted down. We tied our 
horses to the caissons, and threw down our blankets on the 
ground. We had marched thirty miles over rough roads, 
but these roads were as smooth as billiard tables compared 
to those we were yet to tackle. Just as soon as we were 
comfortably settled, some of the artillerymen learning of 
our arrival, strolled over to have a chat with us. 

As we troopers munched our hard tack and bacon, our 
visitors, who belonged to Light Battery " D," Third Artil- 
lery, answered the many questions that we eagerly put to 
them, between mouthfuls. How soon were we to meet the 
enemy? What regiment was it ? How strong were they? 
etc. In answer to our inquiries, they informed us that the 
Alfonso XIII. of Cazadores was just on the other side 
of San Germain, a city about six miles away, and that by 
to-morrow morning at this time, it was then about 10 o'clock, 
we might become acquainted with them. They also said 
that it was a "crack" regular regiment, and that it was 
fully expected they would put up a stiff argument. The 
dignity of the word " Regular " seemed to impress us more 
than anything else. When our visitors bade us good night, 
they asked of us a favor, "As long as you fellows are going 
to be in the van, and have all the shooting, just hold them 
a while until we get in a few shots. ' ' 

We replied, that we would do our best; and one of our 
boys exclaimed, " that it was a lucky thing we was in the 
van if we expected to do any shooting, for when them 
things," pointing to the field guns, "commences to git in 
their funny work, there wouldn't be no show for anybody , 
no how. 

"And that's no pipe dream, either," replied a big artil- 
leryman. 

"Goodnight, boys, keep us in mind to-morrow," were 



102 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

the departing words of the artillerymen, as they walked off. 
"We won't forget you," replied a grizzled old trooper, 
" in fact, I think we'll have our belly full of fighting to- 
morrow, and wish we had you along with us. 

The hum of voices gradually died away, and the camp 
was quiet again. 

Joe was smoking his pipe — my pipe also— in a reclining 
position, with his head resting on his arm. He was puffing 
big clouds of smoke skyward, and whenever he did this, 
something very weighty was on his mind. Suddenly he 
exclaimed, "You." He startled me so that I moved per- 
ceptibly about three inches from the ground. 

"Pardon me, Will, but you remember that old shark who 
bought our civilian suits when we were given our uniforms 
on David's Island." 

" Yes, I remember him very well," said I. 

Joe had sold a splendid silk lined, blue serge suit to this 
old clothes man for $1.50, and he, Joe, had never recovered 
from the kicking that he gave himself afterwards. The 
mere remembrance of it always hurt him. 

" I'd like to meet that chap, right here, now, quick," 
and he raised himself, now, as if the old second-hand clothes 
man was in front of him. 

"And I wouldn't do a thing to him," doubling his fist, 
' ' not a single thing, but push this bunch of fingers clean 
through his miserable old carcass. ' ' 

' ' You know that I offered to send your stuff home with 
mine, but you wouldn't do it," said I. 

" Yes, I know you did, but I needed the money then." 

" Yes, so you did," I sighed. 

' ' Perhaps by to-morrow morning something may happen, 
and I would like to give him one thump any way." 

" Oh, forget it, Joe, let's change the subject, you have 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 103 

my address if anything happens.— Well— you understand 
what I mean ? ' ' 

' ' I understand all right — you know who you are to notify 
incase anything befalls me. Shake, old man," said Joe, 
extending his hand and giving me a vice-like grip. 
" Good night, and happy dreams." 

My eyes closed, and my last thought as I slipped into the 
mysterious L,and of Nod was of home. Like a vision, I 
could picture the anxious loving faces there, one by one as 
they floated before me. I could recall incidents of my child- 
hood days, which I had supposed were long forgotten, and 
with these sweet reveries of home, I was soon asleep, and 
did not awaken until sunrise next morning, when Joe gave 
me a dig in the ribs. We saddled up as quickly as possible 
with no breakfast, beyond what was left in our saddlebags. 
Joe had a couple of hard tack and insisted that I take one, 
and I refused. This was the only time that a break in our 
comradeship seemed imminent. 

' ' Either you take that hard tack or we sever our friend- 
ship right here r sir," warned Joe. 

I grabbed it and jumped in the saddle. 
An extact from General Orders No. 13 reads as follows: 
"Macomb's Troop of Cavalry will act as a screen, and 
will march about two miles in advance of the point of the 
advancement. The extent of the front to be covered by, 
and the disposition of the Cavalry, will depend upon the 
nature of the country, and will be left to the judgment of 
the troop commander. He will communicate freely by 
means of orderlies with the commander of the advance guard, 
who' will at once transmit all messages to the commanding 
General. Three mounted orderlies, to be furnished by the 
troop, will march with the advance guard." 

These orders were concise, and how they were obeyed, I 
shall relate. 



104 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

The troop was assembled in the road and followed by the 
suppressed, "give 'em hell, boys," from the doughboys, 
we passed through their ranks, formed into line and 
mounted. For a couple of miles we trotted, and then 
walked our horses the remaining four .miles to San Ger- 
man. 

A couple of Puerto Rican scouts accompanied the troop. 
They rode diminutive native ponies, and carried Remington 
rifles, which were strapped on their backs "a la Espanola." 
One of the scouts had such long legs, that he could have 
touched the ground with them without half trying, when 
astraddle his charger. In this way he might have added 
more to the speed of his mount by pedaling a bit, but these 
Puerto Ricans are lazy devils. 

San German has a population of about 10,000, and the 
parish over which the mayor also holds sway has about 
30,000 inhabitants. The city boasts a theatre, a number of 
schools, a hospital, and is altogether an up-to-date Spanish 
city, which means that it is about twenty years behind the 
most unprogressive Yankee town. This was the place where 
we first heard the latest song, "After the Ball." Of course 
the words were translated into Spanish. Oh! if the music 
had only been translated instead of the words. 

We now waited until the infantry came up, and while 
waiting, we were introduced to the mysteries of popularity 
of public opinion. The natives were very enthusiastic and 
demonstrative, and the pretty Siguoritas and the middle 
aged Senoras smiled down at us from the balconies very 
hospitably; we removed our hats in acknowledgment, of 
course, to their pretty salutations. 

On one balcony, in particular, stood a bevy of Senoritas, 
one of them held a basket of cut flowers and they all took 
turns in throwing them down to us one by one. 

The flowers never touched the ground, for our eager 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 105 

hands were ready to catch them. You might think you 
had one, and the next moment, presto, it was snatched 
away only to adorn some other fellow's shirt or hat. So for 
one hour we laughed and enjoyed ourselves with the aris- 
tocratic Seuoritas and the crowds on the streets. We must 
have appeared as a rough looking lot of fellows, for our 
sleeves were rolled up to the elbows and shirts unbuttoned 
at the neck, for the march had been insufferably hot and 
dusty. We must have compared unfavorably with the 
natty, white uniformed Spanish regiment which bad occu- 
pied the city but the day before, but we were there to fight, 
not to look pretty. 

The advance guard of the infantry soon appeared, con- 
sisting of two companies of infantry, one platoon of artillery 
and two Gatling guns. Slowly, now, the troop continued 
its march through the town, and, as we moved along, we 
waived adieux to our pretty entertainers on the balconies, 
and to the ' ' Vivas' ' of the surging crowds of natives in 
the streets, and were soon on the outskirts of the city. 
Then a sharp turn in the road and hospitable San German 
disappeared from view altogether. The cordial reception 
that we had received, stimulated us for the ordeals that we 
were to go through before the day was done. The remem- 
brance of that one morning remained with us long after- 
ward as almost heavenly, although a better sense of the 
realization would have been ours if we could have been on 
those balconies. Man is never satisfied. 

Before us stretched mile after mile of sugar cane, which 
waved and rolled away like a large expansive sheet of water. 
It would have been monotonous and irksome to the eye if 
above the billowy masses of green the many-colored roofs 
of the plantations and sugar mills had not appeared, to- 
gether with the tall chimneys. From a few of these latter 
the smoke poured forth in dense, black clouds, indicating 



106 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS 

that the owners of these plantations were not at all disturbed 
by our proximity or a prospective fracas. 

One thing noticeable was, that all the mills which were 
working full blast were only in the immediate vicinity, 
within a radius of half a mile or so. Beyond this point the 
plantations seemed to have been deserted. This suggested 
that ' ' somthin might be doin' by the time we got over thar, ' ' 
spoke up farmer Gregory, a big, raw-boned, long-legged 
trooper, who was jollied the live long day because of his in- 
imitable Yankee drawl. Gregory was correct in his con- 
clusions, too. 

To the westward, a range of high hills sloped away gradu- 
ally. In front, the excellent macadam road which connects 
San German with Mayaguez, extended for fully half-a-mile 
in an unbroken straight line, glistening in the bright sun- 
light. Two or three miles to the eastward, patches of the 
ocean could be .seen beyond the undulating fields of cane. 
The whole scene breathed a peculiar quietness and peace- 
fulness that was foreboding. Our native scouts showed by 
their wary actions, as they pointed toward the sugar cane, 
that the enemy would probably seek just such a quiet spot 
for their line of attack. 

Captain Macomb ordered the troop to dismount, and we 
then led our horses to a clearing on the left of the road , and 
the troop commander gave his final instructions. 

The troop was to divide into three platoons; the first 
platoon to be commanded by Lieut. Valentine, the second 
by First Sergeant Drake, and the third by the troop com- 
mander himself. The first and second platoons were to 
deploy on either side of the road, as mounted sk rmishers, 
and the third platoon was to keep to the road, in columns 
of fours, keeping pace with the line of skirmishers. Five 
cartridges w y ere inserted in the reserve chambers of the 
carbines, for an emergency. The six shooters inspected, 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 107 

and silently we filed out in the road, and the positions just 
mentioned were taken. 

Owing to the rough condition of the country over which 
the skirmishers had to advance, our progress was slow. 
The irrigating ditches and the barb wire fences were the 
obstacles preventing us from moving more quickly. Each 
non-commissioned officer having a pair of pinchers, this 
latter obstruction was easily overcome, but the only way to 
solve the ditch question was to "take them," and these 
appearing at very short intervals were detrimental to both 
the horses and the men. The unlucky riders of the non- 
jumpers were compelled to dismount and lead their horses 
through the mud and water, cursing their ill luck at each 
step. The cane hid the horses from view, and the campaign 
hats of the troopers j list appeared as if they were moving 
along on top of the stalks b}*- some supernatural power. 

We had advanced probably two or three miles in this 
handicapped manner when a couple of shots rang out, and 
one of our scouts, the little one, who had left us but a few 
short minutes before, to reconnoiter and pick up any infor- 
mation he could, hastily appeared around a bend in the road 
a quarter of a mile ahead. He was riding for dear life, his 
head well over his horse's neck and his body crouched up 
on the horse's back. The nearer he approached the more 
he reminded me of the circus, when the monkeys, strapped 
on the backs of the ponies, are carried around the ring at a 
goodly pace. 

He looked as if he had gained all the information he had 
been hunting for, and perhaps a trifle more, for his quiver- 
ing lips framed but one word, "Espanola." He was so 
excited and agitated by his close shave, that he just jab- 
bered and pointed in the direction from whence he had come. 
Barclay, a trooper, who served as interpreter during the 
whole campaign, was summoned, but he was unable to- 



108 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS 

understand anything but a few broken phrases and the one 
word ' ' Espanola. ' ' Barclay then turned, and said to Cap- 
tain Macomb, after several fruitless efforts at a cross-ex- 
amination — " He says that the Spaniards are over there," 
pointing toward the south pole. The Captain was disgusted, 
and with every trace of visible annoyance, said: " Tell that 
white livered little coyote that we know they're over there," 
flourishing his hand in the air, "We've been expecting it 
all morning. Ask him how many, and from where he was 
fired on." 

Meanwhile, Captain Macomb ordered the assembly, and 
by the time the other too platoons had lined up on the road, 
the little scout had recovered from his scare. We had ex- 
pected to hear the crack of the Mausers any moment, and 
this reconnaissance of the scout' s had been to some advantage 
after all, for the enemy had shown their hand to a certain 
extent, and we knew about where we might expect an 
attack. The Puerto Rican, now that he had regained his 
mental and physical equilibrium, explained that the Span- 
iards were in a sugar plantation, a mile or so ahead, and 
fully prepared to give us a warm reception. He had sud- 
denty come on their rear guard unawares, and was as much 
surprised probably as the enemy who had fired at him, but 
the shots had gone wide of their mark. 

We turned into a field on the right side of the road. Under 
a large tree, Captain Macomb, L,ieut. Valentine and the two 
scouts held a consultation, with Barclaj^, of course, acting 
as interpreter. The excited voices of the scouts, who em- 
phasized each word with frantic gestures, as if trying to 
impress upon the two officers in this manner more fully 
what they were saying, could be heard above the even, sub- 
dued tones of the officers, who appeared as unconcerned 
and as tranquil as if they were preparing a plan of attack 
for a sham battle. Whatever course to be pursued had to 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 109 

be arrived at quickly, for it was obvious that in a very 
short while " things were going to happen." 

Every man fully comprehended the danger he was soon 
to undergo. Pshaw! we would have been fools if we had 
not. Point me out any sane man who would not naturally 
feel apprehensive under the circumstances and I will point 
you out a full blown fool. It was the uncertainty, more 
than anything else, for, no doubt, if the country had been 
open, and free from any danger of an ambuscade, the men 
would have felt more seeiue in their belief that the enemy 
would be obliged to expose themselves when attacking. 
The surrounding country was perfectly adapted for Indian 
warfare, and our small force of eighty-five men were "it" 
in a dangerous game of tag. 

From the conditions under which we would be obliged to 
advance along the road, the outlook was ominous. We 
could not resort to our tactics of the previous few hours, as 
the throwing out of skirmishers would have made it im- 
possible to retain our mobility. An orderly had been sent 
to the rear to advise the advance guard to close up and fol- 
low us immediately. 

The first platoon mounted and took the road, the other 
two platoons keeping a short distance in the rear. With 
carbine butts resting on our thighs, we marched cautiously 
forward. The faces of the troopers were stern, and the lips 
were drawn tightty across the teeth, and a more determined 
looking set of men would have been hard to find anywhere. 
Their heads were thrust forward from the shoulders as they 
peered ahead, and their attitude was full of alertness and 
watchfulness. After advancing for a mile under this strain, 
the crack, crack, crack of the Mausers rang out, and then 
the ping of the bullets, as they whistled overhead, informed 
us we "were in for it now," and no mistake. 



110 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

" Dismount, fight on foot," rang out Captain Macomb's 
voice, as clear as a bell. 

In less time than it takes to tell it, we had formed into 
skirmish line in a field on the left of the road, and were ad- 
vancing stealthily through the long grass in the direction 
from whence the firing had supposedly come — a clump of 
trees two hundred yards in front. If the firing had origin- 
ated from this point, there was no sign of the enem)', and 
it had ceased as suddenly as it had commenced. Before we 
had advanced much further, and gained the summit of a 
long ridge, the enemy had again spotted us, and now the 
shots came from a sugar plantation about a quarter of a 
mile on the other side of the road; they had the range, too, 
and the hum of the bullets, as they sped overhead, sounded 
uncomfortably close. 

As yet, though we had seen no sign of the enemy, we 
knew that they were in the vicinity of the plantation, but 
could not locate the exact point, as they used smokeless 
powder. Evidently they were concealed behind the under- 
brush on the opposite banks of the Rio Rosario, a stream 
running parallel with the road at this point. We retraced 
our steps and, partly sheltered by the long grass, kept up 
a running fire with the enemy, although we could not see 
them. 

When the first shots were fired, the advance guard was 
about a mile in the rear, and as soon as they heard the 
racket they had started on a double quick to reinforce us. 
Ah! but it was a pretty sight as they burst into view in 
columns of fonrs on a dead-run. They did not cheer, 
neither did we, but there was a something in that compact 
body of two hundred odd men, as they came nearer and 
nearer, that defies description. Many of them wore ban- 
dannas knotted loosely at the throat, sleeves rolled up, as 
usual, and many were minus hats, having lost them in their 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. Ill 

hurry. Dirty, dusty and grimy, but a more resolute, pic- 
turesque body of men never drew breath. They immediately 
took a hand in the fracas, keeping to the road and firing 
volleys as they advanced. Troop "A" now crossed the road 
and sped down the steep embankment on the opposite side, 
and every trooper burrowed behind the deep furrows in the 
cane field, from which the cane had been cut. A fusilade 
of shots greeted us as we made this manoeuver, but the 
bullets sped overhead. We wriggled along behind the 
shelter of the friendly furrows, heedless of the knee-deep 
mud and water, until we were within a hundred feet of a 
patch of half-grown sugar cane. All this time the pip, pip 
of the Mausers rang out, answered by our advance guard 
on the road, who still continued with their volleys. We 
again made a rush, this time for the cane, which drew 
another shower of bullets in our direction, but the bullets 
sped over our heads again. 

Now and then white uniforms could be seen, dodging in 
and out in the thick foliage, a couple of hundred yards in 
our front, but they disappeared so quickly that no accurate 
aim could be drawn on them. Volley firing was the only 
alternative, and for fully ten minutes both sides participated 
in this manner; the firing of the enemy was high, the 
bullets, as usual, passing overhead, otherwise we would 
have sustained a considerable loss, as the Spaniards had the 
advantage of knowing where we were, but as yet we were 
undecided as to their true position. The enemy withdrew, 
firing well regulated volleys as they retreated under the 
dense growth of underbrush. This force was the rear 
guard of the Alphonso XIII.; the acquaintance of the main 
body we were to make later on. 

The scouts were again in evidence, for at this juncture 
they were exceedingly excited, as they rode to and fro on 
their petite horses, making signs to Captain Macomb that 



112 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

the enemy was retreating across the Hormigueros road, and 
at the same time pointing to the rear. Captain Macomb, 
who by the way, was cooly rolling a cigarette, finally ex- 
claimed, with a much bored expression, " Hell, I can't 
understand these fellows. Barclay. Where's Barclay? " 

"Here I am, sir." said Barclay, stepping out from the 
ranks. 

He was unable to comprehend to what these scouts re- 
ferred until their excitement had subsided, so that they 
could uncover their mare's nest, and they said that they 
were positive that they had seen the enemy move down on 
our right rear flank in an attempt to cut us off from the 
main column. 

When Captain Macomb heard this information, he smiled 
broadly. He entertained no apprehension in this respect, 
however, but ordered the troop to take to the road again, 
ignoring the warnings that the Puerto Ricans still poured 
forth. 

CHAPTER VII. 

The hamlet of Hormigueros was situated on the crest of 
a hill on our right, and the enemy could be plainly seen at 
times when they were obliged to take to the open on the 
run, as they fell back to the above town. 

The advance guard had pushed forward, the troopers 
following, crouching behind the pineapple plants, which 
lined the road. The enemy had ceased firing, in their wild 
scramble to get out of the way of the volleys which we sent 
after them. We continued to fire in a desultory fashion at 
any stragglers that might come within range of our carbines. 
Corporal Supton, the non-com. of my squad, called atten- 
tion to a man running in the open, the range, probably, 
being two hundred yards. " Well, here goes, boys, for a 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 113 

wing shot," and with that he fired, and the next instant 
the man staggered and fell. " I think that will do him for 
awhile," said he, as he cool}- reloaded his carbine. This 
man was afterwards carried into our lines, the bullet having 
entered his back and come out through his groin. He was 
nothing more or less than an humble peon who had un- 
fortunately gotten in the line of fire. When I saw him, he 
was lying on the roadside, a surgeon bending over him, 
stuffing medicated cotton in the wound in the most matter- 
of-fact way, just as if he was filling a chink in a wall. 

Captain Macomb ordered the troop to advance in a dis- 
mounted skirmish formation towards the Rio Rosario. As 
the troopers formed into line, the troop commander walked 
up to me and designated me as centre skirmisher, each man 
to regulate his pace with mine. As we advanced across the 
open field, every trooper with his carbine butt under his 
right arm, fingers on the triggers, with the barrel resting 
on the palm of his left hand, my feelings were decidedly 
peculiar. I did not run, that is, forward; on the contrary, 
I walked rather slowly, thinking that if we were going to 
get an unfriendly greeting ahead, that we would get it soon 
enough without rushing on it. Why the enemy had re- 
treated and had not utilized such a splendid strategetic point 
for an ambuscade was a mystery. If there had been a 
dozen men concealed in amongst that thick jungle, we 
would have been rubbed out of existence, with small loss, 
if any, to the enemy. 

We reached the Rosario and found it to be a muddy, 
sluggish stream about fifty feet wide. The scouts attempted 
to cross it, but the stream had been made unfordable b} r the 
recent rains. The Homigueros road crossed the stream 
over an iron bridge a couple of hundred yards to our left, 
and over which the Spaniards had retreated but a short 
time before. We right faced and marched single file toward 



114 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

this bridge. Cartridges, belts, helmets and even guns were 
scattered along the road, as if the locality had been too hot 
for the enemy and they had fled in confusion. The bridge 
itself was a handsome little structure, strongly built, and, 
lo and behold, the name of the builder stood out in bold 
plain English. On closer inspection it proved to be a 
Yankee firm, too. Also giving the name of the town, not 
a hundred miles from the city of New York. The bridge 
was a valuable acquisition, as it would enable the artillery 
and infantry to cross the Rosario — the next nearest crossing 
being half-a-mile or more down stream. The road turned 
here at a right angle and led straight to Homigueros. The 
platoon, under Lieut. Valentine, deployed to ascertain the 
position of the enemy, the other two platoons remaining to 
guard the bridge against the possible flank movement. 

Lieut. Valentine returned after a short reconnaissance, 
having learned nothing advantageous. 

At this time the main column was but two miles in our 
rear. The troop commander being aware of this fact, and 
also knowing that our left flank was covered by the advance 
guard, he ordered the troop to proceed up the steep hill 
leading into Homigueros. Silent crowds of natives gather- 
ed on top of the surrounding hills, but as we approached 
nearer to the town, they scampered away and by the time 
we had reached the top of the road, but a small crowd of 
natives of the better class remained, including the alcalde 
of the town. He pointed up the road and to the hills be- 
hind the town and then with his fingers to his lips, he ans- 
wered, barely above a whisper, the questions put to him by 
the scouts. His every motion was a caution. 

"Shish, shish, " was all we troopers could hear him say. 
He looked so ridiculous with his retinue of yellow Puerto 
Ricans, so important and yet so humble as he bowed and 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 115 

scraped, that although we smiled, the affair was far from be- 
ing humorous as we soon learned. 

We turned back and descended the hill slowly ; leaving 
the alcalde still standing in the middle of the road, pointing 
to the other side of the town. As we reached the base of 
the hill, a volley, that sounded a if ten thousand dish pans 
had been dropped simultaneously, was fired into our right 
rear, demonstrating that the alcalde had been either enact- 
ing a false part in the little drama, or else was perfectly 
ignorant of the whereabouts of the enemy. 

A heavy rain-storm but a short while before had neces- 
sitated the wearing of our slickers. Removing these cum- 
bersome rubbercoats made dismounting rather slow and 
awkward, but I daresay it was all done in an instant. 

As I look back to this one instance nothing but Provi- 
dence, assisted by the woefully poor marksmanship of the 
Spaniards, prevented our force of eighty- five men from be- 
ing annihilated. The Mauser "pills" threw up the dirt 
from the road, forming a halo around the troop and yet not 
a man or a horse was hit. It almost seemed as if the 
enemy were trying to test their marksmanship as to how 
near they could send their bullets without hitting us. 

The horses were led into a patch of banana trees and in a 
few seconds we were lying in a ditch skirting the road, and 
were pumping our Krags as fast as we could into the enemy 
who were occupying the surrounding hills. The nearest 
range was only two hundred yards so that we could take 
accurate aim. In fact, this was the first opportunity we 
had to get a fairly good shot at the Spaniards and we took 
every advantage of it. Our advance guard poured in a 
withering cross fire, which cut off some of the heavy volleys 
that had been directed at us. We were probably engaged 
for about fifteen minutes when the Eleventh Infantry ap- 
peared on the main road, at the point where the troop had 



116 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

first been fired on. The}- attempted to ford the Rosario, 
but were stuck in the marshy ground and were then re- 
formed into close column to cross the bridge. As soon as 
they were en masse in the road the whole Spanish fire was 
concentrated upon them, and a dozen doughboys fell before 
they could recover from the confusion caused by this unex- 
pected attack. Meanwhile, Captain Macomb seeing the 
predicament, ordered the troop to charge and led toward 
the enemy's flank, driving them out of their position, there- 
by relieving the infantry, and enabling them to gain a point 
of vantage. The escape of every man in the troop was 
miraculous, considering our exposed position. Troop "A" 
then retired along the Homlgueros road, recrossed the 
bridge, and, under cover of the railroad embankment, took 
every opportunity to harass the enemy, by threatening their 
right flank. The Eleventh Infantry had entirely recovered, 
and with a series of rushes charged up a steep hill and dis- 
lodged a force of Spaniards from their position. They con- 
tinued to reply faintly as they scattered over the surrounding 
hills, and three more doughboys fell in this skirmish. Troop 
"A" returned from the expedition along the railroad, and 
ascended a long hill to co-operate with the infantry. This 
position on the crest of the hill was the one occupied by the 
enemy but a short while before. It afforded an admirable 
natural breastwork and commanded a view of the main road. 
The horses' heads had just appeared above the hill- top 
when the spiteful "ping, ping," of the Mausers again be- 
came active, and the enemy's sharp-shooters came as near 
to rubbing out some of Uncle Sam's cavalrymen as they 
had that day. A bullet, which I could swear did not pass 
any more than one inch from my right shoulder, whizzed 
by and I could feel the breeze it stirred up as it sped along. 
This meant "no thoroughfare," except to some other 
world, and not a man was prepared, mentally or morally, to 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 117 

undertake the uncertainties of such a journey, and, conse- 
quently — to use a colloquial term — we ducked. Sergeant 
Greib and I became entangled in a barbed wire fence. He 
swore just like a trooper, or any other man, in such a fix, 
and I could not help laughing at him as he loosed himself 
from one barb only to turn around and get caught in an- 
other. Of course we were all behind the hill, otherwise my 
humor might not have been so pronounced. We finally 
extricated ourselves and joined the troop on the extreme 
right of line. The doughboys were lying fiat on the ground, 
with just enough of their anatomy above the crest of the 
hill to conveniently plug away at the Alphonso XIII. as 
the}' were forced back. The Krag-Jorgansen does not dis- 
charge a perfectly smokeless powder, and the enemy could 
locate our position more readily than we could theirs. The 
thick foliage offered excellent opportunities for them to 
escape. Of these they took every advantage, only showing 
themselves in the open when the Gatling guns, which swept 
the surrounding hills with a storm of shot, together with 
our volleys, had made some locality too warm for them. 

Our artillery now dashed up the hill and unlimbered, the 
firing of two or three shells being required to determine if 
the range was correct. 

During the intermission of loading and firing the guns, 
the broken columns of the enemy could be seen, running 
like mad, in their haste to create as great a distance as pos- 
sible before the next shell was fired. This clever ruse was 
then put into operation, which proved very effective. By 
reserving a loaded gun, and firing amidst them so quickly 
when they supposed we were reloading, that in half-an-hour 
no Spanish soldier (except the dead ones) could be found 
within a radius of five miles. 

One has no conception of what damage a shrapnel shell 
is capable of until having seen one burst, covering a space 



118 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

of ground a hundred feet in diameter with a leaden hail of 
missiles. A brick house standing in the line of fire, and 
used by the Spaniards for a signal station, was totally de- 
molished in the twinkling of an eye. 

We could see the pnffs of smoke from the bursting shells, 
and then the rumbling reports would come back to us, and 
the echoes would last for a few minutes, as they resounded 
from point to point, getting fainter and fainter, until they 
died away altogether. The Spaniards had no artillery, 
otherwise we might have had a taste of our own medicine. 

The last gun was fired about six p. M. But before dark- 
nessjset in, Troop "A" was ordered to intercept and capture, 
if possible, a railroad train with a party of Spanish soldiers 
on board, at the Hormigueros station. The train pulled 
out and escaped before we could get anywhere near it, also 
eluding some shots directed at it by the artillery. 

The troop succeeded in capturing a few prisoners, includ- 
ing a wounded lieutenant, who was being carried on a litter 
by four of his men. He was a boyish appearing fellow, and 
his left side had been torn by a piece of shrapnel. The 
wound was freely bleeding, as he had received no medical 
attendance, and he was dying. The palor of death had 
already settled on his face, and his lips moved spasmodically 
as he tried to whisper to one of his carriers. I thought, as 
I tried to look down at him, that he must surely be the 
darling of some mother in far-away sunny Spain, and my 
heart went out to him, as if he might have been one of mine 
own kin. Ah! my friend, it is at such a time that all ani- 
mosity ceases to flow through one's veins, and the sight of 
a terrible gaping wound will fill a strong man with remorse, 
and all thought is for the wounded and dead, whether they 
be friends or foes. 

Our casualties embraced one enlisted man killed, oue 
officer and fifteen men wounded. The Spanish loss was 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 119 

estimated at twelve killed, and probably amounted to fifty 
in killed and wounded. 

After a hearty supper of bacon, hardtack and coffee, having 
tasted nothing since six o'clock that morning; the men sat 
around in groups, to smoke and swap experiences over the. 
events of the da3 r . All is quiet and peaceful, save for the 
occasional whinny of a horse and the restless "hee-haw" 
of a mule. The eye looks over the dim landscape, lighted 
only by the tropical brightness of the stars and the glimmer 
from the line of fires. Gathered around the latter are forms 
that appear spectral and uncanny in the uncertain light. The 
whole scene has a tendency to give one a longing desire just 
for a glimpse into the home circle, with those dear faces 
that had tried to smile so bravely through the tears, at the' 
departure of some loved one for the front a few short months 
before. 

Is it possible that but a short while before, this same spot 
had been a battle field, where human beings had killed and 
maimed one another with all the ferociousness of the medi- 
eval man, and only prevented from a continuance by the 
curtain of friendly Night? Hark, the musical strains of 
taps steals through the quietness. It almost sounds apolo- 
getic, so smooth and soft are the tones. A few moments 
later " lights out " sounds, but the brilliancy of the stars is 
undimmed and the embers of the fire glow. The cavalry- 
man with his saddle for a pillow and wrapped in his horse 
blanket and slicker, lays himself down to rest in the mud, 
and sleeps. Morpheus was easily wooed that night. 

The following morning the troop made a side scout in 
advance of the main body, proceeding over a greater portion 
of the ground occupied by the enemy the previous day. 
The way led over beaten trails, so common in the mountain, 
made by the natives when traveling from one point to an- 
other, instead of using the longer road routes. These trails 



120 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

led over hill and down dale, across gullies, mountain streams 
and even traversing the face of some steep precipice and 
then down again on the other side, where a misstep was 
likely to set one rolling down the mountain side. As we 
rode along, signs of confusion were visible, helmets, clothing 
and Mauser rifles were strewn along the trail. 

Half-a-dozen Spanish soldiers were seen on the ground, 
exactly as they had fallen when wounded. A hush fell 
over the entire troop as the first dead body was seen in the 
long grass only a few paces from the trail. The man had 
fallen with his face to the enemy and his right hand still 
clutched his rifle. The troopers had been hilarious and 
making merry over the flight of the enemy. Light remarks 
were passing to and fro as we pictured to ourselves the evi- 
dences of the lively scramble that the Spaniards were com- 
pelled to make. But at the sight of their deserted dead, 
lying on the ground like so much carrion, a prey to the 
buzzards, a silence came over every man. Even the old 
campaigners who had undergone all kinds of service, from 
the days of the Civil War down to the more recent Indian 
outbreaks, as they passed these gruesome objects bowed 
their heads reverently. 

It is a singular thing is human nature. The day before, 
a human life had been held at small cost. The youngsters 
in the troop stood shoulder to shoulder with their more 
experienced and hardened comrades-in-arms. A fierce, ex- 
ultant joy filled the breast as the eye glanced along the 
shining barrel and sighted it against a white uniform. But 
the murderous passions had cooled and the then heated 
brain had recovered from that mad impulse to kill, knowing 
full well that you, yourself, might be shot any moment. 

And so we bowed our heads respectfully as we passed 
these bodies and paid our tributes. Not even a soldier's 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 121 

burial, but left to decay and the bones to whiten under the 
fierce heat of the tropical sun. 

After taking this side scout of about eight miles, we re- 
joined the main body on the road to M^aguez, performing 
the same duties as on the previous day — that of a screen. 

We received the customary homage from the natives along 
the route, only on a more elaborate scale than we had 
hitherto enjoyed. Because eating fruit was forbidden, we 
stuffed ourselves with the mangoes, bananas and cocoa nuts 
which the natives had piled along the road for our benefit, 
and which they distributed among us promiscuously. There 
were no bad results that I know of to our health, but there 
might have been if the city of Mayaguez had been twenty- 
six miles away instead of six. I fear that the surgeons 
would have had more than their hands full if it had been 
otherwise. 

Our entry into the city was an occasion of noisy greetings 
and voluminous yelling by the citizens. For a half-mile 
leading into the city the natives, who had flocked from every 
quarter, shouted and capered around us. They seemed to 
have gone mad for jo}^. 

We rode up a street, which has since been re-named the 
Eleventh of August Street, in honor of our triumphant 
entry that day. Brigadier-General Schwan and staff, es- 
corted by Troop "A" and the Eleventh Infantry band, led 
the way through the cheering populace. A number of promi- 
nent citizens, including the alcalde, were assembled at the 
Casa del Rey in readiness to greet us. The alcalde declared 
himself subject to any commands that General Schwan 
should so order. 

Meanwhile the howling had not abated one iota. Cakes, 
candies, cigars and cigarettes were showered on us by the 
storekeepers, and some of the spectators even threw small 
silver amongst us, which the spry natives fought for in 



122 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

many* lively scrambles, the lucky finders shouting more 
lustily than the others that the "Americano was mucha 
bueno." 

Some one in the crowd had the temerity to shout " Viva 
l'Espanola." He was pounced upon by a dozen natives 
and somewhat roughly handled before his friends could 
rescue him from their violence and hustle him away to a 
place of safety. Whosoever this indiscreet individual may 
have been it was a daring thing for him to do, and he almost 
paid the forfeit with his life. The people were so excited 
and high-strung on that memorable morning, that they 
would have stopped at nothing to show their thankfulness 
at the deliverance from the despotism of the Spanish sol- 
diery, who were hated by all classes, except the few higher 
officials and aristocrats who catered to them, knowing that 
in so doing they were insured against any mob violence, 
which only needed a tiny spark to inflame, to a white heat, 
the passions of the masses caused by generations of misrule 
and militarism. 

The dense throng was composed chiefly of the middle 
and peasant or peon classes. Old men and women were 
just as demonstrative in their declarations, that the "Ameri- 
cano ' ' was ' ' mucha bueno ' ' as those of the younger gene- 
rations. Naked boys and girls from three to ten years of 
age dodged under the legs of the horses, in danger almost 
any moment of having their lives stamped out. They shook 
their little fists in glee, helloing shrilly at us all the while. 

The aristocratic community were very much in the mi- 
nority. Most of their houses were tightly closed and not a 
sign of life within or without, with a few exceptions, and 
the ultra-swell citizens looked down at us disdainfully, just 
as if to say — " Pouff, Yankee pigs, begone! " The natives 
were as quick to notice their contemptuousuess as we were, 
and they immediately took up the ' ' hue and cry ' ' in our 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 123 

favor, by hissing and flinging epithets at their aristo- 
cratic brethren, who only sniffed, and lifted their heads just 
as a St. Bernard might treat a pack of snapping curs at his 
heels. This anti- American feeling on the part of the better 
class was so unexpected and so entirely in contrast to our 
San German conquest that we were nonplussed for the mo- 
ment, but were covered from our astonishment and removed 
our hats and smiled at the bevies of Senoritas gathered on 
the balconies in the immediate neighborhood. These young 
ladies only laughed derisively at our salutations or glared 
scornfully down at us. Our tattered appearance was pro- 
bably in such contrast to the dandy Alphouso XIII. uni- 
forms doubtlessly caused their ridicule, mingled with the 
feeling too, perhaps, that we were usurpers. Their mascu- 
line companions watched us gloomily and vouchsafed no 
feeling one way or the other. 

" It is a lucky thing for them," exclaimed one young- 
dare-devil of a trooper, jerking his thumb upward toward 
a couple of dandified young gentlemen on a balcony, where 
half a dozen young ladies were making game of us, " that 
they aint laughing too, for I wouldn't do a thing but go up 
there and smear them with this," doubling his fist, " I just 
wish they'd crack a smile." But fortunately for both 
parties concerned they did not laugh, but just extended 
their gaze toward the distant hills in a nonchalant manner. 

One very pretty and touching incident occurred that aroused 
all our pent-up feelings, giving us an opportunity to shout too, 
instead of grinning foolishly at the black and yellow faces 
around us. The bugle had just sounded. " Forward, 
march," and we were once more pushing through the dense 
crowd when a commotion in a balcony overhead attracted 
our attention, and a young lady leaning over the railing 
flung a rather poor imitation of Old Glory to the breeze. 
Presto! To my dying day I never expect to see, nor ever 



124 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

will see, such enthusiasm. Every hat was snatched off and 
waved at this apparition of loveliness, whose face was flushed 
with excitement, her eyes dancing for very joy and lips 
parted as they framed " Viva 1' Americano," then we rent 
the air with the cavalry yell, high-pitched and ear-splitting. 

" Americano muy bueno," she responded fervently in 
answer to our cheer, and we again split the heavens 
with another deafening cheer. The colors of this flag were 
poor, and it was probably home-made for the occasion, but 
the sentiment that prompted this fair young girl to unfurl 
it was electric in its velocity, for the natives again yelled 
and danced. We sat sideways in the saddle, so as to obtain 
a better view of this inspiring sight, as we trotted down the 
road and over the bridge crossing the Rio Mayaguez. 

This young lady will always be remembered by ever}' 
man in that brigade with the tenderest of feelings. May 
her future be as happy as she made us, that memorable nth 
of August, 1898. 

Majraguez was entirely rid of Spanish. The troop made 
a reconnaissance in the direction of I,as Marias, and found 
that they, the Spaniards, were still retreating; some toward 
the above named town, others towards Lares, about six 
miles northwest of L,as Marias. 

I had my first and last taste of Puerto Rico rum while on 
this scout. The troop was thrown out along the road from 
a half-mile to a mile in length, divided into small detach- 
ments and acting as videttes. Creighton and I were sta- 
tioned together in the middle of the road, facing in opposite 
directions, on the qui vive, with our eyes and ears well 
peeled. Suddenly a rustle in the adjacent underbrush 
caused us to straighten up, and before we could guess what 
the disturbance was a native sprang into view, but upon 
seeing us he again made tracks for the bushes. We very 
promptly halted him, and after asking what his business 



ROUGHLVG IT WITH THE REGULARS. 125 

might be, it occurred to us that he could not understand us, 
and we both fell to laughing. The peon stared at us in 
terror, thinking, perhaps, that we were planning how best to 
dispose of him. The confectionery and fruit which we had 
eaten earlier in the day had made us ravenously thirst}-, 
and, as we knew the Spanish word for water, we said "Dos 
agua," meaning two drinks of water; signifying that we 
were very thirsty by pointing to our mouths. The native 
recovered from his scare as soon as he understood that all 
we desired was something to drink, and diving into the 
underbrush he appeared a few moments later with two 
gourds filled with liquid. Our Spanish must have been very 
poor, or the native misunderstood our meaning, for before 
we had swallowed two mouthfuls we sputtered, coughed 
and choked, and dropped the gourds as if the contents had 
been red-hot. The native looked at us in amazement and 
disgust. Without a doubt he could have drank both of our 
shares and would hardly have felt it. Many times after- 
ward I saw this stuff used by the natives almost as plenti- 
fully as water, that is internally. "Agua, wretch!" we 
both exclaimed in a threatening tone. The native, with a 
" Si, signer," rushed away and soon came back with a tin 
pail full of agua, with which we refreshed ourselves, and, 
then filling our canteens, again took our positions on the 
road. The native disappeared with his empty pail, and 
probably spread the report that the American soldier was 
strictly temperate, as we surely were when it came to drink- 
ing sugar-cane rum. 

The assembly sounding, we put spurs to our horses and 
joined the troop, about a quarter of a mile distant. Under 
the guidance of our scouts we followed the road. The na- 
tives had but one answer to our questions, and that was. 
"L'Espanola vamoose," meaning that the Spaniards had 
passed by in a hurry. Our scouts pointed to some white 



123 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

specks about a mile distant, moving swiftly along the wind- 
ing road. They were doubtless the rear guard or a few 
stragglers of the Alphonso XIII. We fired a few shots 
after them, just to let them know that they had not lost us. 
They quickly disappeared from view, and, taking to shelter, 
did not return our fire. 

We were close enough to the enemy for all convenience 
and knew that they were retreating, but to what place, 
we did not know. To advance further might have jeopard- 
ized the troop, as the country was better adapted for an 
ambuscade than around Homigueros. The road turned so 
sharply in some places that, had there been a hostile force 
lurking near, a murderous fire could have been poured into 
us and we would have been helpless. 

The nature of the country being rough, we wei'e obliged 
to keep to the roads, as both above and below were thick 
jungles, deep ravines and precipices. We turned back, and 
at about three o'clock that afternoon we went into camp 
outside of Mayaguez. The artillery and infantry were 
camped nearby, in our rear. The infantry was completely 
fagged out. The forced marching of the past three days, 
under the fierce heat of the sun, had taxed them to the full 
limit of human endurance. A few days for recuperation 
were absolutely necessary. 

We had demoralized the enemy, it is true, and had him on 
the run, but to have engaged him under such adverse con- 
ditions would probably have sacrificed what we had already 
accomplished. The artillerymen and the troopers were 
ready and fit to pursue at a moment's notice. 

The horses had not entirety recovered from their experi- 
ence on the transport, but they could have been urged on 
for many more miles. So, for a day we lay in idleness and 
waited for the developments which we then supposed were 
rapidly coming to a climax. The Spaniards were being 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 127 

hemmed in between the column marching through the in- 
terior — commanded by Brigadier-General Guy V, Henry — 
and our brigade. Sooner or later they would be compelled 
to fight, if they intended to cut their way into San Juan, or 
make an ignominious surrender. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The horses were picketed on the hills to graze and roll to 
their hearts' content, wdiile we lounged around camp, 
cleaned our accoutrements and rested from the hard work 
of the past week. 

The ammunition train, composed entirely of oxcarts, 
had gone into park just opposite camp, the yelling and the 
screeching of the native drivers, intermingled with the 
lowing of the oxen, made the locality very undesirable as a 
resting place. The voice of a Puerto Rican is set in a high 
key and his yelling powers are multiplied many times. He 
seems to have an everlasting grudge against the ox, which 
is the most patient and forbearing of animals. 

One of the mule-skinners having deserted at Ponce we 
searched high and low for him, but he was never heard of 
again. Mule-skinners were very scarce at that time, and if 
this fellow had been caught it w r ould have gone hard with 
him. A native applied for the job and got it, being the 
first and only applicant. The only recommendation he 
could give was that he had driven an ox-cart. There is as 
much difference between driving or leading a Puerto Rican 
ox-cart, and manipulating the reins from the seat of one of 
Uncle Sam's army w r agons — drawn by a team of two or 
three span of cussed regular army mules — as there is between 
driving an old ash-wagon horse and a blooded trotter. The 
comparison is much in favor of the trotter. 

This Puerto Rican was a full blooded negro and could- 



128 TOUCHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

not speak a word of English beyond the few cuss words 
which he had appropriated, having heard them drop from 
the lips of the other drivers. A mule-skinner is not exactly 
required by the Government to have an original vocabulary 
of swear words, but if he is not an adept in this respect he 
might as well give up the idea of driving a team of even 
one span. The mules expect it, and if a driver is not capa- 
ble of expressing himself rather forcibly when the occasion 
demands it, the mules look upon him as an easy mark and 
will take advantage of him. I do not mean to give the idea 
that a mule will not kick the life out of him, or any other 
human being, who might happen within range of his hind 
legs at any time, but then he is not so apt to do so, if his 
mulish brain is impressed by an occasional display of well 
colored English epithets. The mule is not susceptible to 
caresses, and would look upon a kind word as an evidence 
of weakness. 

This new driver used his few American swear words or- 
dinarily, but when a special effort of his mules was necessary 
to pull over a rough of muddy spot, his limited vocabulary 
was useless and he was obliged to resort to Spanish. The 
mules had not been educated iu the Spanish tongue, so 
nine out of ten times they either bolted or refused to budge, 
and the other drivers would have to help him out of his 
difficulty. This had happened so often that it finally became 
tiresome to the others, and whenever the Puerto Rican be- 
came stuck, his brother drivers referred to him as "that 
black nigger is up against it again. He ought to get out 
and pull and let the cussed critters drive." Nevertheless 
they always helped him 

Having been detailed to go to Mayaguez to the commis- 
saries for some supplies which were needed, he hitched up 
his team without any mishaps and drove on to the not very 
smooth road. The mules became balky, and the Puerto 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 129 

Rican in his characteristic way, used his tongue and whip. 
A crowd of soldiers gathered and offered all sorts of advice 
to the flabbergasted driver, who of course could not under- 
stand one word. He sawed and tugged at the reins by 
turns and plied his whip unmercifully, but the mules just 
danced and kicked. Suddenly a torrent of Spanish, that 
was wholly unintelligible, poured from his lips, and startled 
the mules so that they broke into a trot and then a lope and 
away they went. A blue streak followed in the wake of the 
disappearing wagon, which careened dangerously from side 
to side, like a ship in a shifty wind. 

This Puerto Rican deserted that afternoon, evidently sat- 
isfied that he had not yet graduated to the grade of mule- 
skinner. Poor chap we did not blame him, but he might 
have brought his team back anyway instead of leaving it in 
Mayaguez. A trooper was detailed to fill the vacancy. 

The morning of August 12th, two days after the Homig- 
ueros engagement, an order from headquarters was posted 
up, to the effect that one platoon of cavalry was to be in 
readiness immediately after breakfast to go on detached ser- 
vice. A general rush was made for First Sergeant Drake's 
tent as soon as' the news spread that a detachment was to be 
made up to follow on the tracks of the enemy. Every 
trooper clamored to be put on the list, but the first comers 
were detailed only. Twenty men were selected, myself 
among the number in a very few moments. We rushed 
away and in fifteen minutes were saddled and in line with 
Lieutenant Valentine in command and Sergeant Lutz as 
second in command. We moved out on the road and there 
joined the six companies of doughboys and one platoon of 
artillery which comprised the flying column, a total of 
seven hundred men, with Lieut. -Colonel Burke of the Elev- 
enth Infantry in command. 

It was very evident that we were to perform whatever our 



130 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

duties were, quickly and decisively. All luggage was dis- 
pensed with. The doughboys carried their guns and one 
hundred rounds of ammunition to a man. The artillery 
was stripped of every ounce of weight that might prove 
burdensome. The cavalry was likewise divested of saddle- 
bags and blankets. Ample transportation for rations and 
ammunition followed a few miles in our rear. 

The two scouts who had accompanied us for the past 
week led the way. The little fellow looked more ridiculous 
than ever. He had an American sabre slung on the near 
side of his horse "a 1' Americano," and he was very pom- 
pous and proud with' his new possession. If it had not been 
for the valuable assistance that they gave us during the 
next two days I fear our platoon of twenty odd men would 
have had a difficult time of it. 

The country henceforth was mountainous and rugged, 
although the macadam for the ensuing five miles was good. 
We had been over this part of the road two days before and 
were slightly acquainted with it. We kept about two miles 
in advance of the main column. Troopers were dispatched 
constantly to the officer commanding, to keep him in touch 
with the prevailing situation. We were cautious and wary 
of every place that could be used for an ambuscade, the 
scouts rode a quarter of a mile in advance, riding back and 
forth alternately, to keep Lieutenant Valentine well informed 
of everj^ advantage and probable place for an ambush. 

Stringent orders were passed along that no talking should 
be indulged in above a whisper, and that only when ab- 
solutely necessary. Looking over the steep windiug road 
we could see a patch of campaign hats and shining gun- 
barrels of the doughboys, as thej^ trudged over the spot 
which we had marched over, probably half an hour before. 
The sides of the road were draped with clinging vines, 
which hung from the trees in long festoons. The atmo- 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 131 

sphere was heavy with the fragrance of beautiful flowers 
which was almost sickish in its sweetness. In every di- 
rection high hills and mountains rolled away in beautiful 
greens ; it was a gorgeous tropical scene, wild and full of 
nature. 

We soon came to the end of this macadam road and now 
our troubles began. It was one continuous quagmire and 
to add to our discomfort, places innumerable could have 
been utilized by the enemy, while we were wading in red 
clay mud from one to three feet deep. The heavy rain- 
storms had washed all semblance of a road completely away 
in some places, and all that remained were large piles of 
mush}' earth. We plunged through these mounds one after 
the other and in a very short time men and horses were en- 
crusted with mud an iuch thick. 

Our scouts had learned from some source, that the Span- 
iards intended to shell the road from an almost impregnable 
position, midway between Mayaguez and L,as Marias. Our 
feelings upon nearing this point were anything but comfort- 
able, for where we were in the valley, the deep mudd} r road 
led almost in a straight line to the top of a mountain, where 
the enemy w T ere supposed to be in waiting to oppose our 
advance. True no sign of the enemy w r as visible, but then 
we did not expect to find them standing behind their guns 
in plain view. We gained no assurance from what we did 
not see of them, that they were not patiently awaiting our 
arrival somewhere. The road was exposed for a mile or so; 
the tropical vegetation which had heretofore been so luxur- 
ious and dense, and where half a dozen men could have been 
concealed five feet away without our knowing it, the road 
now was utterly devoid of any vegetation which we might 
use as a shelter, except a few scraggly bushes which would 
barely have hidden the little scout, so small were they. 

Lieutenant Valentine w r ith one of the scouts rode ahead 



132 ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 

and we anxiously awaited their return. They made a de- 
tour from the road and took a bridle path, but they evident- 
ly gained nothing advantageous from this reconnaissance for 
they soon reappeared over the brow of a hill further down 
the valley indicating that the path led down hill instead of 
up, contrary to their expectations. On such occasions as 
this minutes seem like hours, and the uncertainty of not 
knowing when or where to expect a hostile movement was 
aggravating. 

Clouds had been gathering for half an hour and, before 
we knew it, we were caught in the toils of the worst storm 
we had yet encountered on the island. The water rushed 
down the mountain side in torrents, and the wind blew so 
terrifically that it was all we could do to butt against it, and 
advance in the formation which the lieutenant had to yell 
before we could understand the order. We advanced by 
twos only, until we were strung over a quarter of a mile of 
the road, each pair being twenty-five to fifty feet apart, so 
that if a shell was sent over our way it would not strike the 
whole bunch. If the reader will remember, the Spaniards 
had no artillery at Homigueros, so w T e were yet to make 
the acquaintance of the bad end of a field gun. Perhaps 
the Spaniards were going to play the same trick as they did 
at Homigueros, wait until the infantry appeared in close 
column on the road and then let loose at them. But no, the 
enemy had again retreated as we soon learned from the pro- 
prietor of one of those road- side stores, so familiar in the 
rural districts, when we had gained the top of this hilly road. 

The proprietor came forward to meet us, gratefully ex- 
pressed his thanks, effusively told us that we had delivered 
him from the Spaniards, and ending up with the phrase 
' ' Americano muy bueno ' ' we were getting into the habit 
of half believing these three words. He would have gone 
on with his tale of woe indefinitely but Iyieut. Valentine 



ROUGHING IT HIT// THE REGULARS. 133 

ordered Barclay and the scouts to cross examine him. The 
scouts evidently knew him and they said something to him 
which brought loud protestations from him. 

"The scouts say," said Barclay, turning to the Lieuten- 
ant, "that this chap is a volunteer." 

"Well, I don't see that we can do anything to him for 
that. Ask him where the Spanish position was or is. ' ' 

" He says that they were encamped up the road further, 
but that they left early this morning," said Barclay, after 
interrogating the Spaniard. 

"Tell him to lead the way to the spot," commanded the 
lieutenant. We followed the store-keeper who showed us 
the place occupied by the Spaniards but upon examining 
the ground we could see no wheel tracks, which brought us 
to the conclusion that the enemy had no artillery and upon 
asking the Spaniard whether it was true or not, he replied 
that the enemy had none that morning but he had heard 
that they expected to meet their artillery somewhere be- 
tween L,as Marias and L,ares. 

Before pushing forward the proprietor brought out a few 
bottles of cognac which he gave us. The Spaniards had 
looted his store, so he informed us, but he had smuggled 
this stuff away for us. When asked how he knew we were 
coming, he replied that the Spaniards had told him so. 

"He's a regular joker, say there, you," called one troop- 
er to the Spaniard, as that worthy turned away to enter his 
store, "look out or the goblins '11 get you, if you don't 
watch out," pulling his six-shooter from the holster and 
levelling it playfully at the retreating form. The Spaniard 
had turned to see who had called him and catching sight of 
the gun, he almost fell over himself to get out of the way. 

The report that he was a Spanish volunteer did not help 
to improve his stock in trade to any extent, in fact he rather 
lost by his duplicity, for when we came back from a scout 



134 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

up the road, we found the doughboys, regaling themselves ' 
with countless bottles of wine which they had unearthed 
somewhere. The Spaniard did his best to look pleasant 
with one of those " see the little bird come out of the cam- 
era ' ' expressions, while his wines were fast disappearing 
down the throats of the thirsty doughboys. If he had only 
left his stuff in plain view in the store, instead of hiding it 
away, he would not have been molested at all, for the men 
would not have dared to have taken it, but would have 
bought it from him at almost any price, for the daily rain- 
storm, together with the cool evening air, had chilled them 
through. 

Infantry outposts were stationed along the road for half 
a mile in the direction of L,as Marias. Our platoon again 
took the road on a reconnaissance toward the above named 
town. 

Clothing, bits of food and sardine boxes were strewn 
along the road, indicating that the Spaniards were eating 
while they marched into the rocky fastness of the country 
around L,as Marias, which was even more adapted for bush- 
whacking than the districts we had already passed through, 
according to all reports. 

If the enemy succeeded in reaching their goal, the fight- 
ing would henceforth be more on the guerrilla style, for the 
country did not permit enough space for a large body of 
troops to manoeuver without serious disaster to the attacking 
force. The mountains were destitute of roadways, being 
one vast jungle of impenetrable tropical vegetation. It was 
to our advantage therefore, that we should strike the enemy 
at the earliest possible moment and break up their mobile 
force, so that all re-organization would be impossible in the 
future. Luck seemed to be on our side thus far, which 
gave us confidence and made us eager to push forward. 

The spot on which we were standing was the highest 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 135 

point in the road for miles around. We could see portions 
of the road in its winding course. Southward it sloped to 
Mayaguez, northward to Las Marias, which was visible 
across country about three miles. The adobe houses, of the 
customary light colors, stood out in bold relief against the 
ruddy glow of the setting sun and green hills on every side. 
Clouds of mist floated in the valley in all sorts of incongru- 
ous shapes, the waning splendor of the sun illuminating 
them with delicate rain-bow tints. The lowing of cattle 
and bleating of sheep, in the farm-yards of the haciendas 
far below us in the valley, floated upward to us. 

The rain had freshened the colors of the foliage and where 
the sun-light caught the wet leaves, little particles of gold 
and silver seemed to cling. Eventide in every latitude has 
a beauty and attractiveness of its very own, but a tropical 
dusk with its manifold, resplendent colors of the warmest 
hue cannot be surpassed for a truly gorgeous spectacle. 

Lieut. Valentine, a couple of troopers and the scouts 
moved forward to determine whether the neighborhood was 
entirely rid of every hostile force, and the advisability of 
occupying the ground selected by the infantry as a camp 
for the night. 

During their absence we troopers talked garrulously, for we 
now had time to reflect on what might have happened that 
day if the enemy had made even a half-hearted defense. 

" If those fellers," said Anderson — the old trooper who 
had ridden the bronco — in Tampa — "had been Injuns, nay, 
nay Pauline, we wouldn't be here a' tall, a' tall, we'd be 
over thar somewhar," pointing to the rear, "deader than 
the dead. We'd never have marched half this distance be- 
fore we'd been plugged so full of lead we'd not be able to 
move even if the pesky bullets didn't hurt us. Why this 
is more like practice marching, this is. ' ' 

We believed him on the " Injun" question, but as far as 



136 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

it being more like practice marching was concerned, no man 
was willing to admit. We interrupted him with incredulous 
' ' Whats ? ' ' and he fell all over himself trying to explain that 
there was one exception. 

' ' Only that last march up the hill where the Greasers 
were supposed to be waiting for us. But that was exciting 
wasn't it though? Say, I was really nervous." 

We all nodded our approval. 

" Were you nervous?" spoke up another trooper who was 
noted for his sarcastic dryness, "It was just like practice 
marching to me, nothing more." 

And the laugh was on the other fellow. 

Ljeut. Valentine returned, evidently satisfied that no dan- 
ger would accrue, for we retraced our steps and went into 
camp near the doughboys. 

' ' Jimmy ' ' one of our ' ' mules-kinners' ' had unloaded the 
" buzzy-cot" and coffee boiler and built a roaring fire. He 
was the only " mule-skinner " in the entire brigade who was 
known to pet his mules and this quality gave him quite a 
distinction. After watering and feeding the horses we ga- 
thered around the cheerful blaze, cooking bacon and potatoes 
in our mess pans. We were like the Irishman who, when 
he was asked what bird he was most fond of, answered, " Of 
all th' bur-rds that fly the air, oi dearly love th' pig. " If 
the amount of bacon each man stowed away counted for 
anything, we surely had a very affectionate regard for that 
animal. 

After this sumptuous repast we looked around for a dry spot 
of earth to rest our weary bones, but the rain had soaked 
everything. With the aid of my slicker and Joe's — for 
he was along on this expedition — poncho and our two 
horse-blankets, with a mattress of twigs and our two saddles 
for pillows we two fared fairly well. We smoked innumer- 
able cigarettes, of which we had a bountiful supply from the 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 13? 

kind citizens of Mayaguez. Each cigarette contained just 
about half a dozen puffs, so we finally became tired of light- 
ing them and we rolled over and with the customary ' ' Good 
night, old man" we were asleep. 

The following morning about three A. M. we saddled up 
and led our horses out on the road. It was pitch dark and 
we could not distinguish anything ten feet away. We 
mounted and rode slowly along, munching our bacon and 
hardtack and rubbing our eyes. We were accustomed to a 
rather abrupt awakening in the morning, but that morning 
it was positively rude. The sun was fast appearing over 
the distant mountains and by the time we had covered a 
couple of miles, "Old Sol" was beating down on us with 
all his usual vigor. 

The main column followed about half a mile in the rear. 

We halted on another high point, nearer to the town of 
L,as Marias than we had been the previous evening. 

Sergeant L,utz then told us that the Spaniards were en- 
trenched in a cemetery outside of I,as Marias, the scouts 
having made a reconnaissance to within a mile of the town 
and had received this information from the natives along 
the road. This information was not authentic of course and 
we did not know whether to believe it or not. The cemetery 
we could plainly see but no sign of the enemy. We were 
sure that in a very short time, something was going to hap- 
pen and that pretty quick, for it would either be a complete 
rout for us, or for the enemy. The country allowed of no 
half-way, chicken-hearted attack or defense. It was a game 
of win or lose at the outset and the appearance of things 
then looked very dubious for us. 

Looking to the rear, a couple of hundred feet up the road, 
we could see the doughboys resting on their guns, fanning 
themselves with their hats and others sitting by the road- 
side completely fagged out. They waved their hats to us 



138 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS 

and some of them shouted for the loan of our horses, one 
chap put his hand to his mouth and yelled, "A horse, a 
horse, my kingdom for a horse," which caused a general 
laugh. One has no idea what an infantryman suffers in a 
hot climate, while on a long, tiresome march, such as they 
had to endure, with the mud a foot deep ; but they were as 
good-natured as if they were having all sorts of fun. 

We had remained in this spot for half an hour and the 
men were becoming impatient andr estless with the delay, of 
which they could not understand the meaning. lieutenant 
Valentine had ridden off to a knoll a short distance up the 
road and was busily employed scanning the country ahead 
with a pair of field-glasses. Without any warning our two 
scouts came galloping down the road and breathlessly re- 
ported that they had seen the enemy. They were laboring 
under their usual excitement and it was all Barclay could 
do to understand their jargon. We were heartily sick of 
their antics and Lieutenant Valentine would, I know, have 
dispensed with them then and there, but for their valuable 
knowledge of the roads. He frowned them down now as 
they commenced to relate their recent experiences to him. 
His knowledge of Spanish was confined to a very few words 
and they knew it too, but they were so excited that they 
did not know what they were doing. Barclay finally elicit- 
ed the information from them that they had seen the enemy 
just this side of Las Marias. These Puerto Ricans were 
irascible, their natures no doubt compelling them to act in 
this manner ; but their actions were in such contrast to the 
deportment of our body of twenty men, who received this 
news with stern faces and rigid bodies, as the}' gazed in the 
direction of this town, which caused so much doubt among 
us, and about which no definite information could be ob- 
tained. 

We now crawled along the road foot by foot, until we 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 139 

arrived at Rio Armas, a stream just below the town. We 
forded it and continued on up the hill. Our left hands hold- 
ing the reins and with right hands grasping our carbines, 
the butts resting against our thighs. We advanced until 
we passed a turn in the road, which brought us face to face 
with the town gate a quarter of a mile distant. A bunch 
of natives were standing in the gateway but as soon as they 
saw us they disappeared. We trotted up the road and into 
the town. The one street was deserted and the honses were 
closed up, the occupants having no doubt, flown to a place 
of safety until the storm had blown over. 

The alcalde, together with several notables and a priest, 
this latter personage was also one of the notables — but of him 
anon — came out of the town hall and paraded up to where 
we halted. 

The alcalde was an old man about seventy years of age 
and a rather nice looking old chap. He greeted us very 
cordially as did the other officials, but the priest, I never 
saw such a diabolical face in all my life. His black eyes 
were shaded with bush}'- brows and his long narrow face, 
hooked nose and thin lips gave him a sinister expression. 
He looked more like a priest of the devil than a minister of 
the gospel, as he stood defiantly glowering at us with his 
robes wrapped tightly around his lean body. With just a 
little fire and brimstone he would have made a par-excellent 
Dante devil. He answered the questions put to him in a 
surly tone and muttered imprecations under his breath. 
We laughed at him good-naturedly and one trooper remark- 
ed in a general way, " How we'd like to wake up in the 
middle of the night and see that face," nodding toward the 
priest, ' ' looking at us. ' ' This set him fairly crazy with 
rage. We had not the slightest idea that he understood 
English as he had hitherto spoken in Spanish. He walked 
away shaking his fist and he finally broke into a run toward 



140 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

the church opposite the town hall. One of the troopers 
had pointed his six-shooter at him which occasioned his 
panic. 

The others seemed to fear this priest for the}' vouchsafed 
no information, beyond the admonition that the Spaniards 
were on the other side of the town somewhere. The loca- 
tion they were either ignorant of or else they would not 
divulge it, out of fear that the impending danger should be 
discovered by us, in which case they would be killed or 
probably tortured by the Spaniards. 

Suddenly the bells in the church tower pealed forth. We 
were startled for a moment, not knowing what it might 
mean. Many of the towns we had passed through had 
shown their enthusiasm for us in this manner, but it did 
not take us a minute to guess that this was a signal of some 
sort to the enemy. lieutenant Valentine ordered them to 
cease ringing at once and one of the ' ' aldermen ' ' ran post- 
haste to comply with the order. The priest was the prime 
mover in this little game, we were sure. A squad of six 
troopers dismounted and entered the church and there found 
several stacks of Mauser rifles and a few thousand rounds 
of ammunition. The priest however could not be found, 
having escaped through the rear of the church. We after- 
ward had trouble with this fellow, but of that later. If he 
is alive now, as I have no reason to doubt that he is, he 
should congratulate himself, for if he had been found di- 
rectly after the bell ringing episode, he would have paid the 
penalty for his treachery with his life. 

We sneaked along the road keeping well in the shelter of 
the houses until we came to the end of the town, which was 
but a quarter of a mile long and a couple of hundred yards 
wide. We then threw out our skirmish line — mounted, and 
advanced but a short distance when the scouts, who were 
about a hundred feet in front on the road, came back pell 



ROUGHING IT WITJI THE REGULARS. 141 

mell, and reported that the rear guard of the enemy was 
waiting a short distance down the road to give us a warm 
reception. As quick as a flash we right about faced, put 
spurs to our horses and galloped back through town, meet- 
ing the doughboys as they were entering. Our combined 
force then charged through the town, we troopers giving a 
cavalry yell, the like of which we had never given before, 
the doughboys shouting like mad also. 

We came to the gully where the rear guard bad been in 
ambush, but they had retreated. At the end of this gully 
the road turned sharply, and looking down into the valley 
we could see the white uniformed Spaniards making across 
country as fast as their legs could carry them toward the 
Rio Prieto. The range was from one to three hundred 
yards and we pumped our " Krags" into them, scattering 
them in all directions. They tried to cross the river but 
the recent rains had swollen it to twice its normal size, 
making it a turbulent and treacherous torrent. Many of 
them were swept away and drowned trying to ford it. 
Others were shot down as they stood panic-stricken on the 
banks, hesitating between the raging waters and our 
' ' Krags. ' ' 

Their cavalry had crossed before we came upon them. 
We could see them as the last man clambered up the steep 
bank and scampered away on his little horse, soon vanish- 
ing in the shelter of the trees. The Spanish cavalry was 
equipped with the native pony. They returned our fire 
sharply and had the range too, for as we lay in the long 
grass the Mauser "pills" whistled overhead so closely that 
we could hear the spiteful swish and ping. Their cavalry 
had no doubt expected us to appear on this spot in the road, 
for it was the only place after passing through the town 
where we could look into the valley, without having to 
make a half circuit of the town and, as I said, they had 



142 ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 

their range to a nicety on this point. 

Their infantry had now crossed the river, having found 
a fordable place further up stream. The first intimation 
we had of this fact was a deafening volley. They were 
concealed in the thick growth of trees on a mountain which 
rose abruptly from the river. Their ' shooting was very 
wild however, and they did not have the range at all. We 
had the advantage, inasmuch that the enemy had nothing to 
shoot at but the top of the hill, whereas we were concealed 
in the long grass, sniping at their white uniforms, as they 
were easily distinguished against the foliage whenever they 
broke cover, as they were compelled to do at times, to gain 
the top of the mountain. 

Incessant volley firing was now kept up for a half hour 
by both sides. The smokeless powder used by the enemy 
again served them in good stead, for it was impossible to 
locate the exact position of their main body. The occa- 
sional white specks, as they ascended the mountain side a 
thousand or more yards away, were the only guide with 
which we could shoot with any accuracy at all, and as they 
only made for the open when absolutely necessary, our 
firing was purely guess work, after the Spaniards had time 
to recover from their panic during the earliest stages of the 
fight. 

The artillery raked the valley with shrapnel and the 
Gatling guns, the "rub-a-dub-dub" of the latter especially 
sounded encouraging to our ears. The big guns cleared 
every Spaniard from the valley in a very short time, also 
giving us opportunities to get in a few extra shots, as the 
enemy ran in every direction when a shell burst near them. 
Our platoon moved off on the left flank to cut off any 
stragglers who had not succeeded in crossing the Rio Prieto, 
We walked down the road keeping well in the shelter of the 
long grass and bushes, for the enemy still continued to fire 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 143 

desultorily. 

The Eleventh Infantry, up to this time, had been volley- 
ing regularly, and we had just reached the river banks 
when the firing ceased altogether. The valley had been 
covered with a storm of missies, and the calm, except a few 
stray shots from both sides, mystified us greatly. We laid 
down behind a clump of bushes and waited for further de- 
velopments. We did not have to wait long, for about ten 
minutes after the last shot was fired the doughboys came 
down the road ; as they approached nearer, one could tell 
from their faces that they had heard something which dis- 
pleased them greatly, and we had an inkling now of what 
had caused the cessation of hostilities. A rumor had passed 
around for the past two days that Spain was negotiating for 
peace, but like every other rumor we never gave it a thought 
as it being a possible fact. Besides, we did not want peace 
for a while anyway, because the glories of our one week's 
acquaintance with the Alphouso XIII. Spanish Regulars was 
about to culminate in their absolute surrender. We troop- 
ers marched up the road dejectedly and ere we had gotten 
within one hundred feet of the doughboys, they shouted to 
us that a protocol had arrived and all hostilities were to 
cease until further orders. 

A protocol ! well, there was yet a possibility of rounding 
up the enemy, should the terms proposed by the United 
States not prove acceptable to Spain. But the advantage 
we had gained, the demoralization that we had put in their 
ranks, all this would count as nothing now, for if the order 
came to resume fighting, perhaps a week or two weeks 
hence, the Spaniards would have again regained their cour- 
age perhaps, or if not their courage, they could re-organize 
and be in a position to put up a stiff er argument, for re-in- 
forcements awaited them in I^ares but five miles away. 

Our platoon moved into a field where Troop "A" was 



144 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

about to go into camp. The disgust depicted on their faces 
was a sight to see, for they had not been in the scrap at all 
as the force commanded by General Schwan did not leave 
Mayaguez until the day after our flying column moved out, 
so they were just too late to participate in the scrimmage, 
arriving on the scene after a forced march of five miles, 
upon learning that we were engaged with the enemy. 

So just as we were to reap the fruits of a splendid victory, 
this protocol arrived and then too, coming from such a re- 
mote place as Washington seemed. The past week of ac- 
tivity had employed our time so completely, that we had 
utterly forgotten that there was such a place as the outside 
world. We were so intent upon this stern hare and hound 
chase that home, friends, and lastly, but not least, our 
Uncle Samuel himself had been cast into oblivion. 

The fleeing Spaniards had left heaps of camp equipage in 
their wild scramble to escape. The stuff was so hidden by 
the trees, that it could not be seen from the road. We 
heard the doughboys give a mighty shout, and out of curi- 
osity we troopers walked over to see what the rumpus was 
all about. There they were, mauling and tumbling over 
each other and as there were several hundreds of them, they 
presented a very comical sight, looking for all the world like 
a swarm of flies. It was booty and the first man there got 
first choice. The doughbo3'S had the pick and by the time 
we arrived on the scene, they had hauled most of the stuff 
away excepting a few horns and other musical instruments 
belonging to the Alphonso XIII band, and a miscellaneous 
assortment of articles. We each got a change of underwear 
— that is the troopers — and some two or three, which the 
doughboys had overlooked. It was cheaply and poorly 
made and was positively useless to wear, and we afterward 
used it for cleaning our guns. 

Later in the evening three score of the hungriest, dirtiest, 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 145 

bedraggled looking human beings that I ever saw, were es- 
corted into camp by a detachment of doughboys, who had 
been detailed for that purpose. The prisoners had been 
part of the rear guard which would have succeeded in send- 
ing us to an untimely end that afternoon, but for the zeal of 
our Puerto Rican scouts. 

They were huddled together in a bunch of forlorn human- 
ity as I walked over to the doughboy camp to get a glimpse 
at them. They were so weak from lack of food that they 
were unable to stand, and as the} 7 squatted on the ground, in 
the glare of a huge fire, guarded by a cordon of doughboys 
they formed a most pathetic picture. The rough condition 
of the roads had delayed the arrival of our wagons until a 
late hour that night. About twelve o'clock the} 7 came rum- 
bling into camp in the most deliberate fashion. We had 
practically been without food for about thirty hours, as the 
hurried breakfast that morning of hardtack and bacon could 
hardly be called a meal. The half famished prisoners were 
first attended to, and as the food was put before them, they 
grabbed it by haudfuils and gulped the tin cups of boiling 
coffee. It seems, as we supposed at the time, the ringing of 
the church bells in Las Marias was a signal to warn the 
Spaniards of our approach. Lieut. Valentine, by his quick 
action in ordering the bells to stop ringing, gave the enemy 
no clew to our whereabouts, as the signalling bells did not 
ring loud enough or long enough to convey to them our 
proximity. When we came upon them so suddenly they 
were greatly dumfounded as they supposed that we were 
miles in their rear. This just illustrates their mode of war- 
fare exactly. There they were, with a perfect knowledge of 
the country, knowing the advantages and disadvantages of 
certain points, or, if they were not aware of these conditions 
they should have been. Imagine a hostile force landing on 
our Long Island, driving before them, step by step, a body of 



148 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

United States Regular troops when the latter had had all 
the opportunity to prepare for a force of invaders. Long 
Island and Puerto Rico are about the same size, but the lat- 
ter is far more easy to defend against a hostile force because 
the coast is rocky and not so approachable, and the interior 
is likewise mountainous. 

CHAPTER IX. 

The whole Spanish force, including the Alphonso XIII 
and a few hundred volunteers, a troop of cavalry and a 
platoon of artillery, which they never brought to bear on us 
for some unexplaiuable reason, aggregating a force of eight- 
een hundred men, had been living off the country since we 
routed them at Homigueros, as they were cut off from 
their base of supplies — Mayaguez. The country was poor 
before they started in to forage, and they obtained very little 
nourishment during the three or four days we were pursuing 
them so closely. They were utterly sick of fighting and 
foot-sore from the continual forced marching. 

These prisoners had mutinied against their company 
officers and given themselves up of their own accord. Their 
officers had threatened to shoot them for desertion, but the 
prisoners overpowered them and sent word into camp by a 
peon, that they wanted to surrender and consequently a 
company of doughboys was detailed to bring them in. The 
prisoners informed us that their comrades also desired to 
surrender, but were prevented from doing so through fear 
of their officers. So ended the engagement at Las Marias. 

The enemy's loss amounted to nearly one hundred in 
killed and wounded, including those who were drowned in 
the Rio Prieto. The only casualty on our side was a loss 
of a finger by a lieutenant in the Eleventh Infantry. 

Although we were not then aware of it we had the dis- 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 147 

tinction of firing the last shots of the Spanish- American 
War. Probably this fact might have comforted us then, 
but as it was, we were chagrined and disheartened. We 
spread out blankets on the ground which the enemy had oc- 
cupied that morning as a camp. Every man was willing to 
admit that he was tired out after the fatiguing duties of 
the past few days. So with little thought of what the mor- 
row might bring forth the entire command, with the ex- 
ception of those poor fellows who were so unlucky as to be 
detailed for guard, laid down to rest. 

The last word on every man's lips seemed to be, " If that 
protocol had only been delayed for one more day," — and 
then with a deep drawn sigh would roll over and soon 
would be sleeping the sleep of the wear}'. 

Next morning the troop crossed the Rio Prieto a mile or 
so up stream in a shallow place. Our destination was a 
plantation where half a dozen soldiers of the Alphonso XIII 
were in hiding. The house was situated about a mile up 
the mountain and upon our arrival a search was made of the 
premises and we succeeded in rounding up the suspicious 
looking fellows. When they were asked if they were sol- 
diers they swore by all the saints and crucifixes in creation 
that they were not, but were peons on the plantation. 
Their appearance belied them however, for they wore shoes 
of the identical pattern found in the captured equipage of 
the day before. The peons do not know the luxury of such 
things, also they never comb their hair and these chaps had 
their hair neatly parted and smoothed down with some sort 
of grease. This in itself was evidence enough to warrant 
them to be the men we were after. Not necessarity because 
their hair was smoothed and combed, but because, when we 
were about to leave the place, one of the troopers who had 
gone otr an investigating tour of his own under the house, 
brought to light more incriminating evidence in the shape 



148 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

of half a dozen Mauser rifles. The six men, whom we had 
under surveillance, were nabbed without any more ado and 
hustled back to camp as prisoners under guard. 

A few more Spanish soldiers were reported to have 
stopped at a plantation just over the mountain. The dis- 
tance was reckoned by the natives as about two miles, in 
other words, about four times a good American mile. The 
natives had no more idea of distance than they had of time. 
A peon offered to take us to the place and, like a knave, he 
led the way which the natives used as a short cut, and not 
by the ordinary trail which even the sure footed pack-ponies 
had difficulty in traversing. This pesky native led us over 
almost perpendicular embankments, caused by the heavy 
raius and it was surely a miracle that we were not killed by 
falling headlong over the precipices into the valley. We 
led our horses over the crags and rocks, as it was positive 
madness to ride them, for if they made a misstep, as one of 
them did, the rider stood in a fair way of being dashed to 
pieces with his mount. The horse that did fall, luckily 
struck a number of trees before he rolled very far and, 
other than a few bruises, was not much worse for his ex- 
perience. About two hours of this laborious marching 
brought us to the entrance to the plantation which we were 
looking for. The peons who were always loitering around 
these establishments disappeared suddenly as they caught 
sight of us, except one poor fellow who crawled away into 
the bushes. He was hauled out of his hiding place, but 
the poor fellow could not stand, so crippled was he — he had 
been castrated. Such a sight. He was so weak that he 
could hardly speak and when asked who had committed the 
atrocious deed pointed towards the distant buildings and 
then fainted. I never felt what murder or manslaughter 
might be like, until I saw that unfortunate fellow lying, 
apparently lifeless, by the road side. We advanced along 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 149 

the road leading to the plantation for about a quarter of a 
mile. Capt. Macomb then posted us in a dense thicket on 
the right of the road and almost before the last trooper was 
concealed, the owner of the plantation came swaggering 
down the road. Now some queer stories had been going 

the rounds in relation to this Senor , of his brutal and 

inhuman treatment of his peons on the same scale which we 
had just witnessed. So when he made his appearance the 
troopers were in readiness for him. 

This senor greeted Captain Macomb with a bow and an 
impudent smirk on his face. The Captain bowed gravely. 
It was easily to be seen that the fellow was trying his ut- 
most to appear at ease, but when he got a glimpse at us 
troopers through the bushes, each and every man with his 
carbine grasped firmly and pointing in his direction, his 
knees commenced to shake as if the ague was on him. He 
took out his cigarette case and offered a cigarette to Captain 
Macomb, but the Captain declined with thanks ; the senor 
therefore very deliberately selected one and lighted it, 
flourishing the match with an air of braggadocio, which his 
whole appearance belied. 

Barclay was set to the task of interpreting whatever the 
Spaniard might have to say in regard to the soldiers who 
were reported to be quartered on his place. We peered 
through the bushes at the quartet. Captain Macomb, tall 
erect and handsome, his chin lifted just a trifle so as to 
look straight into the eyes of the Spaniard before him. The 
Spaniard topped him \>y a couple of inches, although Cap- 
tain Macomb was almost six feet tail. His voice was super- 
ciliously polite as he questioned the senor, finally resorting 
to Ti'ooper Barclay's superior knowledge of the language, 
when his limited vocabularj^ failed him. Sergeant Drake 
stood directly behind the Captain at attention. The senor 
stood with every vestige of color gone from his flabby face, 



150 ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 

leaving it sallow and drawn. His hands and knees shook 
so that he assumed a supplicating attitude which was pitiful • 
and menial. His answers to the cross-fire of questions put 
to him first by Barclay and then the Captain, sounded far 
away and tremulous, and coming from the lips of a man weigh- 
ing probably two hundred and fifty pounds seemed ludicrous, 
for he had nothing to fear but his own guilty conscience as 
we very soon learned. The bushes bristling with carbines 
were not particularly inviting objects for him to gaze on 
and our faces did not greet him with hospitable smiles. We 
enjoyed his discomfiture as he averted his eyes from our 
half levelled carbines, to the hills beyond, knowing him for 
both a villain and a coward. Our fingers itched to pull the 
triggers and send him to the place for which he was event- 
ually intended. He finally said that if the Captain did not 
believe there were no Spaniards concealed on his place, that 
he, the Captain, could search for himself. 

The out-houses of the plantation we could see a short dis- 
tance up the road, but the main buildings were hidden by 
trees. Although Captain Macomb suspected treachery from 
the first, he decided to search the premises and called for a 
half dozen of troopers to accompany him. Twice that number 
responded with alacrity and w T e formed into column await- 
ing further orders. Captain Macomb then told Barclay to 
tell the senor that if he was fired onto or molested in any 
way, that he, the senor, would pay the penalty with his 
life. He understood without repetition and his only answer 
was a shaky nod of his head with a " Si Senor. ' ' 

We marched up the road and searched all the houses. 
We found no one but some frightened women, who belong- 
ed to the senor' s family and house servants. Just as were 
leaving the grounds a fellow was seen to run from a house 
and make for a clump of bushes. We shouted for him to 
halt but he only ran the faster. Several troopers put after 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 151 

him and brought him back. He 'had been a volunteer and 
had been discharged in '96 and got his discharge papers 
to verify his statements. We could prove nothing against 
him or the owner of the plantation, but there was not a 
particle of doubt in our minds as to their having been with 
the forces of the previous day and consequently not having 
sufficient proof to detain them they were given their freedom. 

The troop rejoined the main column that afternoon and 
marched back to within four miles of Mayaguez when or- 
ders were received to counter march. We encamped near 
the store where the Spaniards were supposed to have had 
their artillery station on the twelfth. The next da}- we 
marched to the Rio Armas and threw our camp near the 
stream and wallowed in the mud for the remainder of the 
day. The following day the troop made a dismounted 
scout to the commanding hills occupied by us on the thir- 
teenth, it having been reported that the Spanish forces 
were marching on the town of L,as Marias. No enemy 
appearing, the troop was recalled. 

That afternoon ' ' Troop A " of New York came strag- 
gling through the town. They had beenstationed in and 
around Lares, having been in the brigade commanded by 
Brigadier-General Wilson, and were inarching to Mayaguez 
to embark for the States. I had always remembered 
Troop "A," inarching up Fifth Avenue in full dress uni- 
forms, prancing steeds and showy accoutrements ; and they 
were plodding along a muddy Puerto Rican road, sleeves 
rolled up, bandanas of all colors and hues around their necks 
and spattered with mud. The contrast to the last time I 
had seen them was such that I did not recover from the 
shock all that afternoon. We exchanged pleasantries with 
them as they marched by and they soon disappeared down 
the road. Back to home and friends again. The) T did not 
see any fighting, but they were iu readiness for it and would, 



152 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS 

no doubt, have had their fill if the protocol had been delay- 
ed but one da} 7 , for the Spaniards were retreating toward 
Lares when that unwelcome instrument arrived. 

Small detachments of Spanish soldiers marched through 
Las Marias for the next two or three da}-s under guard, on 
their way to Mayaguez. These prisoners were ignorant 
of the cessation of hostilities, having been separated from 
their regiments on the afternoon of the thirteenth. They 
had been wandering over the mountains in a half starved 
condition, were sick from exposure and only too glad to 
surrender. 

Our two weeks of active campaigning were brought to a 
close. The many advantages held forth to the Spaniards, 
their incapacity to grasp them, and the many obstacles which 
we had overcome in the pursuance of our duties, must be ob- 
vious to the reader. Our brigade did not have a particularly 
vicious enemy to cope with, nor at the time did we consider 
them dangerous, with the two exceptions — when they were 
reported to have planted their artillery near the store and 
then again at Las Marias. 

Exit, Spanish- American War of 1898 ! You have given 
the liberty of free speech to, and released the shackles from 
the bodies and very souls of millions of wretched human 
beings. It was a righteous war. One for the betterment 
of mankind, but still, if the " Maine " had not been sunk in 
Havana Harbor, would there have been a war? 

The country before this terrible disaster was in a state of 
nervous excitement. The daily press teemed with the atro- 
cious deeds of Weyler and the terrible sufferings of the 
Cuban reconcentrados. The chief topic of conversation 
everywhere was War, War, War ! Men talked excitedly in 
the cars, clubs, and even the churches were not exempt. 
The sight of "Old Glory, " no matter where, caused frantic 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 153 

shouting and a patriotic enthusiasm, which had not been 
known since the day that Fort Sumter was fired on. 

That one explosion in Havana Harbor was flashed across 
the country from ocean to ocean almost, before the echoes 
had died away. The country was staggered by this un. 
expected blow. Many doubted the authenticity of the 
report, but when the details of the awful truth appeared, 
men fairly gnashed their teeth in rage. That one cry, 
" War must be declared," was a watch-word for many days. 
A sigh of relief seemed to spring from millions of breasts 
when the strain had been relieved and the cry was, "War 
is declared." 

The men in our brigade behaved splendidly. They did 
not flinch nor did they have to be urged on by their officers. 
They were eager to uphold the glorious traditions of Amer- 
ican arms, as their fathers had done before them. The 
intrepidity of the officers and the confidence which the en- 
listed men placed in them was half the secret to our success. 
Capt. Macomb and Lieut. Valentine distinguished themselves 
by their entire fearlessness and the fine soldierly qualities 
they displayed in the treatment of their subordinates. Lieut. 
Valentine, as I have said, was assigned to the troop at Tampa 
to fill the vacancy left by Lieut. McClure who was on de- 
tached service, was looked upon by the men as a "softy." 
He was quite fair, clean shaven and slight ; his appearance 
was the reason that this nick-name was applied to him. 
Then again he came from "K" troop, commanded by the 
evil-tongued fiery-tempered officer whose exploits I have 
already mentioned, and this alone was enough to "queer" 
him iu the eyes of the men. We were hasty in our judg- 
ment of him, however, for he proved himself to be a capable 
and courageous officer both at Homiguerous and Las 
Marias, and the troopers trusted him implicitly, but not as 
much as they did Captain Macomb. 



154 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

One reads many anecdotes about soldiers while under 
fire, their jocularity and sportiveness. In my experience 
both watching the older enlisted men and the ' ' war volun- 
teers" while under fire, I never saw undue familiarity with 
the ' ' Mauser pills ' ' as they came skimming along. It may 
have been that I was so busy myself, dodging here and there 
to avoid a possible puncture, that I had no real opportunity 
to form an opinion, but I am satisfied from what I did see 
that no face was wreathed in smiles, but instead every jaw 
shut tightly which boded ill for the Spaniard that the gun 
was sighted against. Indeed a man is devoid of all common 
sense and does not value his life who exposes himself un- 
necessarily to the deadly aim of the modern rifle. To quote 
that stern old war dog, General Sherman, when asked if a 
man is fearful when under fire said something to the effect, 
" That the man who was not afraid was either an idiot, or 
or a damn fool." Coming from such a source it can be ac- 
cepted as the truth. 

The monotony of garrison life now commenced in L,as 
Marias in good earnest. The Eleventh Infantry appropriated 
the Spanish barracks in town and ' ' Troop A ' ' was assigned 
to the school-house. This educational structure was a wood- 
en affair, about seventy-five feet long by twenty-five feet 
wide and accommodated a hundred men very comfortably. 
We welcomed the dry board floor as if it had been the softest 
of mattresses. The parish of L,as Marias had a population 
of about twenty-five thousand souls. This one school-house 
was more than adequate to house the children of this dis- 
trict who were so fortunate as to be born of well-to-do par- 
ents. The illiteracy in this one parish was the same as all 
over the island and illustrates the task we have on our hands 
to educate our Puerto Rican brethren. 

The first night that we occupied our new quarters was 
one of torture. The place, beside being a human school- 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 155 

house, had a post-graduate course for the largest and most 
vicious fleas I ever saw. Imagine if you can a room full of 
excited men, each with a candle in one hand and a shoe or 
some flat weapon in the other, crawling around the floor, 
making minute examinations of the planks and then — ker 
plunk — down would come the uplifted weapon a whack 
upon the flea, perhaps, but more often on somebody's toes 
or fingers. Such blasphemy was never before heard in 
Puerto Rico, I'm sure. Imagine how unpleasant it is to 
be awakened from a sound sleep in the middle of the night 
by a sharp twinging pain as if a needle had been stuck into 
one. Then Mister Flea would skip playfully away to the 
next victim and just as one was about to dose off again, along 
would come another more greedy than the last. We were 
tormented half to death the first few nights, but finally be- 
came reconciled to our fellow lodgers just as the natives 
were. It was very comical to see the troopers in the day- 
time, walking along quietly or perhaps, sitting in the shade 
as well behaved as any troopers could possibly be, when 
suddenly one or more would commence to scratch. Like a 
lot of monkeys they would examine each other carefully, 
laying aside a shoe or slowly rolling up a sleeve lest the 
pesky tormentor should escape. They were as careful in 
their search and as intent on the execution of their victims 
as they had been after the Spaniards a few weeks before. 
When a flea was caught, it was whispered around that so- 
and-so had caught one and killed it. This may sound odd 
but it must be remembered that they had fed on Puerto 
Rican blood for hundreds of years and the supply of good 
young American blood made them hop with unwonted vi- 
gor. The town was also over-run with black roaches from 
two to four inches in length. But as these repulsive bugs 
are scavengers and are only to be found where there is 
filth and dirt we soon got rid of them by using a liberal 



156 ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 

supply of soap and water on the floors and walls of our quar- 
ters and clearing away the debris around the house. Our 
only consolation on the flea question lay in the following 
lines. We hoped they were true. 

So, naturalists, observe, a flea 

Has smaller fleas that on him prey ; 

And these have smaller still to bite 'em, 

And so proceed ad infinitum. 

An order was read to us a few days after hostilities had 
ceased of which the following is an extract. 

" General Orders No. 14." 

1 ' Had the disposition of the cavalry screen and of the ad- 
vance guard — which latter included both infantry and ar- 
tillery — been less perfect, or had the command been deficient 
in discipline or other soldierly qualities, such an attack 
might have proved disastrous. As it was, it was promptly 
and gallantly repulsed, the repulse resulting in the enemy's 
precipitate evacuation of the city of Mayaguez, though it 
had been placed in a state of defense. 

"The major-general commanding the army has been pleas- 
ed to commend the troops for their gallant action n this 
occasion, — a fact which it affords the brigade commander 
genuine satisfaction to announce. 

By command of Brigadier-General Schwan. 
GROTR HUTCHESON, 
Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General '." 

The men were greatly elated to think that their services 
were appreciated and acknowledged. 

The horses now suffered under the relaxation. They 
had not been fit for active service when we started from 
Ponce, and the hardships they had undergone — half forage 
and the rough roads, put the majority of them on "sick re- 
port. " During the first week in L,as Marias they were 
herded out on a plateau about half a mile from town and 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 157 

allowed to graze, as fodder was getting scarce. The rank 
condition of the roads between Ma3 r aguez and Las Marias 
made the supply of feed uncertain, — the wagons taking from 
three to five days to make the trip, a distance of about 
twenty miles. We only had three wagons, the other three 
being ordered back to Mayaguez for some reason. One of 
them was used to haul water every day, and the other two 
used to haul feed. At the end of the second week the feed 
was all gone and the wagons on the roads somewhere. 

Captain Macomb decided to picket the horses on the plaza 
— between the town hall and the church — where their ills 
could be more readily attended to. Wow ! as soon as this 
became known, our old time enemy the priest, who had 
been laying rather low, jumped out from somewhere like a 
jack-in-a-box, and denounced Captain Macomb and the 
whole Yankee government in a volley of oaths upon the 
plaza, where the Captain was superintending the erection of 
the picket line one morning. 

This blasphemous priest was grabbed by a couple of 
troopers and hustled into the town hall, where he and the 
Captain endeavored to settle their differences with the aid 
of the alcalde and ' ' aldermen ' ' acting as arbitrators. 

The plaza was a perfectly bare plot of ground, about two 
hundred feet square, and was probably used by the Spanish 
troops as a parade ground ; unlike some of the plazas in the 
towns we had passed through where they were adornments, 
having handsome statuary, stately palms and many colored 
flowering plants ; this plaza w r as destitute of any such 
attractions. There was no adequate reason why it should 
not be used for some purpose. 

A heated argument was evidently going on in the council 
room of the town hall for we could hear the high pitched 
voice of the priest and the more subdued tones of the others 
as they tried to quiet him, but finding it a useless task they 



158 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

let him talk on, until that worth}' was choked by his own 
choler. He had the floor, so to speak, nobody else having 
a chance to get a word in edgeways. Captain Macomb 
took advantage of the lull and commenced to talk. We 
could see him through the open windows as he tried to ex- 
plain what the rumpus was all about, not that he had to, for 
he could have thrown this priest in the town jail if he had 
pleased, but he was the gentleman always. The priest had 
regained his wind, and started in with his denunciations 
again. Captain Macomb threw up his hands in disgust and 
walked from the room and the work on the picket line was 
resumed. The priest remained to have it out with his col- 
leagues who did not favor the actions of the pepper}' eccle- 
siastic at all, for they showed their disapproval by leaving 
the room. He stalked across the room behind the others 
and went his way sputtering with rage, his face contorted 
so that he did not make a pretty picture at all. He called 
us some vile names in English which several troopers over- 
heard, and they were about to make him retract, but the 
Captain called them away. He afterward demanded pro- 
tection against the natives in whom he had inspired a deadly 
hatred, and who threatened his life on several occasions. 
He wanted a special body-guard day and night. Of course 
it was refused him as his behavior had not warranted such 
exceptional favors. He finally became so alarmed over a 
couple of attacks, that were actually attempted on his life 
by the natives, that he left Las Marias for a more congenial 
abiding place. It was a lucky thing for him that he did 
too, because we would not have stood much more of his an- 
tagonism, but would have imprisoned him in the jail. 

As I have before mentioned, the Spaniards had stripped 
the country from Mayaguez on, of everything in the eating 
line and this town had been sort of a winding up place, 
where they had completed the job. The inhabitants, not 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 159 

citizens,— were disfranchised and knew not the meaning of 
the word "citizens" and were in the last stages of abject 
poverty. 

The men especially seemed to be more emaciated than the 
women, not because the men worked any harder, on the 
contrary, the women were far more industrious, either tak- 
ing in washing from the "high" families in and around 
town, or cultivating the meagre vegetable patches in the rear 
of their huts, but even this simple luxury few could claim 
and they only cultivated enough for their own immediate 
wants. The lords and matters lounged around and allowed 
their by far better halves, and other members of their usually 
large families, to do the manual labor in the most approved 
Indian fashion, while they smoked the eternal cigarette, 
guzzled the poisonous sugar rum, attended cock-fights and 
were in fact as worthless a lot of human beings as one would 
wish to see. 

The children just swarmed over town like a lot of flies 
alighting on anything that was anyway edible. These from 
two to ten years of age, and sometimes the older ones too, 
were clothed in their original birth-day clothes only. They 
reminded me very much of the pictures I had seen of the 
Cuban reconcentrados, with their protruding stomachs, 
large heads and thin legs and arms. The older children 
usually boasted a nondescript garment of some sort. 

Just as soon as mess call sounded, they would be on hand 
to aid us in clearing awaj 7 the grub. They resembled a troop 
of monkeys, as they squatted on the ground with the most 
solemn expression, and so totally unchild like that they were 
a pitiful sight. Their big brown eyes fairly bulged out of 
their little, pinched, starved faces, as they watched our 
every mouthful. One puny arm encircled a tin can and the 
other hand busily scratching, while they waited for some 
morsels of food to be tossed to them. Their elders would 



160 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

stand at the hut doors watching them. Just as sure as a 
youngster brought back a can full of slops — canned beef, 
potatoes, hardtack and coffee all in one, the father or 
mother, but more often the latter, would grab it, disappear 
through the door and a moment later hand the empty can 
to the youngster, who knew his little game as he came todd- 
ling up the road for another can full. These children were 
the source of much merriment amongst us, and we afterward 
began to name them after the troopers whose proteges they 
were. Seigel and I, to our own personal knowledge, sup- 
ported a family of six children, a father and mother, as long 
as we stayed in Las Marias. 

Of course we did not give the bacon to these hungry 
natives as we ate this with great relish, but the canned meats 
of which there seemed to be an endless supply in Mayaguez, 
we gave of them freely. Bulian, our cook, tried to palm 
the canned meats off on us in all sorts of concoctions, but 
even his culinary expertuess failed to obliterate the foul, 
greasy appearance, sickening oder and nauseating taste. 
The natives evidently had never tasted anything so good, 
for they seldom ate meats, but the joke of it was that they 
made it into tomales and sold them to us for one centavo 
each, before we detected the swindle, As I say, we were 
ignorant of this fact until a trooper, one day, bit into a tomale 
and incidentally almost through a piece of tin which we all 
recognized as the top of an " embalmed " beef can. The 
tomales were so highly seasoned with peppers that the taste 
of the other ingredients was wholly disguised. We had 
been eating them with much enjoyment, never suspecting 
that the wily natives were giving us our own poison. The 
natives could sell no more tomales to us, and a vender with 
a stock of them, if he came'anywhere near a soldier, he, the 
vender, stood in a fair way of having his other goodies also 
upset. 




o- 
9} 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 161 

Cox or "Coxey" as we called him, our baker, turned 
out some mighty fine bread in Tampa — but there he had 
the proper facilities — good ovens and yeast. We all had a 
kindly feeling toward him for his culinary art and then 
again he was a jolly good fellow. When he tried to concoct 
a mixture which he called bread, out of flour, water, bacon 
grease and salt, and shoved it at us and said it was bread in 
Puerto Rico, it was an entirely different proposition. 

I shall never forget the first batch of Puerto Rican bread 
which he offered us. It looked very tempting and smelled 
very appetizing while in the bake oven, but when a hunk 
was placed on each tin plate it was an entirely different 
article from what we expected. We toasted it, fried it in 
bacon grease and soaked it in coffee, but it was no go. 
With every mouthful we could feel ourselves expand, and 
by the time we had finished the whole piece we felt that we 
needed the remainder of the day to reflect in, and digest it. 
We felt so much like balloons that we held on to heavy 
stationary objects to keep ourselves from floating upwards. 
Finally some yeast was obtained from the baker at Las 
Marias with the privilege of using his ovens, and, like the 
ending of a fairy tale, we lived happily ever after. 

The rain storms which were prodigious on the island, 
especially in the mountainous districts, visited us every 
day. Indeed we never knew what it was to have a dry 
afternoon, for usually between two and four o'clock the 
clouds could be seen gathering and then to cluster directly 
overhead. The sun would gradually become obscured and 
a darkness settle down, then for half an hour a steady 
stream of water would pour down, as if the very heavens 
were grieving deeply over the unfortunate lot of the poor 
islanders. The fall of water averaged three to five inches 
during these cloud-bursts, but the town being situated on a 
high plateau, the water ran off. 



162 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

The dampness caused by the daily storms and the lack of 
proper food, commenced to tell on the troopers. One after 
the other they succumbed to the raving malarial fever and 
dysentry. 

There was Sergeant Gray, a veteran of the Civil War 
and of several Indian campaigns. A splendid soldier and 
much liked by his comrades, who was stricken down and in 
a week had lost fifteen pounds. Sergeant Congdon the 
toughest of men physically, as rugged and as strong before 
leaving Tampa as any man could wish to be, steadily 
declined until one day he was unable to rise, and he, poor 
chap, had a siege of it. Corporal Griffith, tall and digni- 
fied, another old campaigner, was also taken sick. So I 
could continue on with a long list of troopers who by reason 
of their many years service and the healthy out-door life 
they had led, might naturally be supposed to be immune. 
But it was a singular fact that they had a harder time of it 
than the "war volunteers," the majority of whom were 
used to city life and never roughed it before in their lives. 
Lieutenant Valentine was obliged to return to the States to 
recuperate. When he left, none of us expected to see him 
alive again, but he rejoined the troop some months later in 
Camuy, hearty and strong. 

The ' ' ghost not having walked ' ' since the latter part of 
July, when we were in Tampa, the majority of troopers 
were unable to buy bananas and eggs, the only nourishment 
obtainable in town for a sick man to eat. Sergeant Drake 
informed us at reveille one morning "that all those men 
who had any money could send to the commissary at Ponce 
and get auy delicacy they desired. ' ' This sounded like a hol- 
low mockery to the men, for most of them had forgotten 
what a greenback looked like. A very few of us were lucky 
enough to have kind and thoughtful relatives in the States, 
myself among the number, who sent an occasional green- 



ROUGHING I'l WI1H THE REGULARS. 163 

back in with a letter from "the folks." This was the 
most sensible way to do, for if the3 r had sent 
"goodies" the chances were that they might have been 
purloined before reaching the consignee, for we were not 
the only hungry soldiers between L,as Marias and the States. 

The Eleventh Infantry surgeon, who had formerly been 
assigned to some volunteer doughboy outfit, attended to 
the ills of the troopers also — the artillery had long since 
gone back to Mayaguez. 

Between two and three hundred men were obliged to go 
on sick report every day, so this surgeon and his half a 
dozen attendants of the hospital corps, more than had their 
hands full. 

A sick man would drag himself to the hospital, a small 
room formerly used by the Spaniards as such, in a long 
low building used by a portion of the Eleventh Infantry, 
who could'not find accommodations in the barracks. Prob- 
ably the sick man would have to wait in line before his 
turn came to tell his tale of woe. He would walk into the 
hot stuffy room where the surgeon and a couple of the hos- 
pital corps men were in attendance, he would walk up to the 
surgeon, and the following conversation would take place: 

Surgeon — " Well, my man what's the matter?" 

Soldier — "Doctor, I can't eat, nor sleep and so and so is 
the trouble." 

Surgeon — "Here, take these," dumping a handful of 
pills, each a quarter of an inch in diameter, into his hand 
and adding, " take one after every meal." 

The poor fellow would walk away and manfully try to 
take " one after every meal." He was not likely to get 
any further than the first pill — if he succeeded in swallow- 
ing that — for he would probably swear to himself that if he 
intended to eat another meal he would have to quit the pills. 
The operation of swallowing one was painful, and one had 



164 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

to deny one's self either the meals or the pills and we 
much preferred the latter way out of the difficulty. No 
matter what ailed a man he was given a handful of pills 
and perhaps ' ' saw-bones ' ' might hand him some powders 
also, but he never forgot the pills with the directions ' ' one 
after every meal. ' ' 

After trying the first dose I threw mine away and, even 
now, I can hear them rattle along the road. Perhaps the 
little urchins found and used them for marbles. I know 
not what became of them, but I swore off on "pills" for 
ever and a day. This is all the medical attendance we 
received, if such it can be called. A man must either 
report as fit for duty, or go on sick report. There was no 
middle course. The men became so weary of the same 
eternal dose that they would go on duty whether able to or 
not. 

The one hour dismounted sabre drill, which, together with 
the two miles bareback ride to the Rio Armas —where we 
Watered the horses every afternoon — undoubtedly kept the 
troopers from brooding over their sickness. But as it was, 
every man's spirit seemed to be oppressed and a languor 
fell over even John Wagner and Barclay, our two "end 
men ' ' as we had nicknamed them. Usually they were the 
embodiment of good nature, but John suffered so from neu- 
ralgia that at times he was almost crazed with pain. In 
ene who had been the butt of much " jolleying " and never 
failed at repartee it was pitiful to see him so morose after 
one of his attacks. Barclay's wit was also somewhat shad- 
owed by illness, but, through his knowledge of Spanish, he 
made himself agreeable about town and became acquainted 
with several families who occasionally invited him ont to 
dine. He was the envy of the whole troop. 

The "mule-skinners" traveling to and from Mayaguez 
were our only news mediums, as we were practically cut off 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 165 

from all communication with the outside world. We were 
so isolated that by the time a scrap of news had reached us, 
it had been repeated by so many that it became entirely 
diverted from its original meaning. 

We had a mail service, but it was so uncertain, that at 
one time a whole month elapsed from the time we received 
our last mail. Of course it was news to us even then, but 
many things can occur in a month and of these we were en- 
tirely ignorant, except what the teamsters spread around 
and we always discounted their reports about one-half. 
The newspapers were passed around as carefully as if they 
had been precious bric-a-brac not to be handled roughly for 
fear that the print might be rubbed off. There was but 
one paper — a New York luminary — which printed the cor- 
rect details of our column and gave great credit to the 
regulars for their work. The boys greedily read every 
word and thoroughly enjoyed it, for there is nothing like 
appreciation to cheer expatriates. 

When the mail did arrive, the expectant faces of the men 
who gathered in the barracks waiting for it to be distrib- 
uted, made a picture impossible to describe. The mail was 
sorted, the letters into one pile and the newspapers and 
packages into another. As each man stepped forward in 
response to his name to receive a letter or newspaper, or 
perhaps both, his face wreathed in smiles, and almost before 
the letter was handed him he had torn it open eagerly and 
begun "to eat the contents hungrily." Yes, eat is the 
only appropriate word. He would walk to his bunk or to 
some secluded spot and for a time was oblivious to every- 
thing and everybody around him. Usually he read it over 
twice, as the first time he had glanced over it in a hurry so 
as to learn the sense of it. Then he laid himself down to 
dream and think, constantly referring to the letter and read- 
ing overand over again those parts which appeal to him most. 



166 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

He thought of the writer, how he or she looked when pen- 
ning the letter, but generally it was a '' she." What her 
thoughts must have been and how she looked as she gave 
expression to them, were matters that ordinarily would not 
have been of interest to him, but now in his loneliness and 
craving for a glimpse into home or something akin thereto, 
seem to him particularly interesting, and he wondered why 
he had never noticed these trifling incidents, which now 
only create a longing which cannot be satisfied. 

Perhaps he is some old trooper who has seen fifteen to 
twenty-five years service, who has left his "woman" in 
barracks to pursue her duty of eking out a living by laun- 
dry work or "hiring out," while her lord and master is at 
the front doing his share at twenty-five or thirty dollars per 
month. He carefully treasures the sheet of paper on which 
is scrawled the few lines which mean so much to him. 

Perhaps some young trooper was lifted into the realms of 
Heaven by being the recipient of a letter from his best 
girl. Another had left a mother or sisters in the States, 
who had written some loving words of good cheer and 
kindness to their " boy." But no matter whether he was 
a hardened veteran or a sprig of a young trooper, the feeling 
of happiness and contentment was supreme in their breasts. 

The keen disappointment depicted on the faces of those 
who had confidently expected letters, but whose expec- 
tations had come to naught, was positively pathetic. I 
always felt like dividing with them as I usually had enough 
letters and papers for half a dozen men. Indeed, it was a 
standing joke in the troop that I ought to hire a private 
secretary to assist in answering my correspondence. 

According to one of our teamsters, who had overheard a 
conversation between some officers in Mayaguez, a pa}^- 
master was either expected or had already arrived} in that 
city. We treated this rumor as we did e'very other, but lo 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 167 

and behold ! a few days later the paymaster and his escort 
of six infantrymen and one non-com. came into L,as Marias. 
The news spread like wild -fire and, for the remainder of 
that day, excitement reigned supreme. We had not been 
paid for almost two months and most of the soldiers did 
not have a copper. They were impatient to blow their 
coin, but it was about nine o'clock that night before " the 
ghost" had his money and papers adjusted in readiness to 
pay us our none too big compensations. 

CHAPTER X. 

The two stores in town kept open later than usual so that 
the soldiers might spend their money. Both stores were 
practically sold out that night and the proprietors had to 
send to Mayaguez next day to get a fresh supply of goods. 
The soldiers bought everything they did not need, but 
which, in their condition they thought they did, such as 
the stale candy which had lain for months, yes, and for 
years in the stores, stale crackers and mouldy canned stuffs. 

I saw one doughboy who was trying to beat down on a 
can of peaches. The store-keeper wanted the outrageous 
price of seventy- five centavos (fifty cents American money) 
for a small can. The infantryman had had several drinks 
so he was in what might be termed a ' ' scrappy ' ' frame of 
mind and not in a condition to parley. The Spaniard in- 
sisted on his price but the doughboy was obdurate and their 
argument arose above the buzz of the many voices in the 
store. We all expected to see a scrap of some sort and a 
hush came over the crowd. The infantryman leaned over 
the counter, his face close to the swarthy face of the Span- 
iard and with his finger uplifted at the same time said 
impressively: 



168 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

"Say, you tinka dat the Americano soldiero mucha 
bueno, gooda ting, eh?" 

"Si, si senor, muy bueno," said the Spaniard, evidently 
not understanding the intended sarcasm. 

"Aw g'wan, I'll give you a tup in the lip, see ! " at the 
same time snapping his fingers in front of the store-keeper's 
nose and grabbing the can of peaches in his other hand. 

" Here, greaser. I'll give you twenty-five cents. Don't 
want it, hey ?" 

The Spaniard was so astonished that he did not answer 
for a moment, but as soon as he saw the soldier moving 
away he set up a yell, whereupon the latter spun him the 
quarter. 

I saw many other instances during the following week of 
the same character, where the thieving Puerto Ricans over- 
charged the soldiers unmercifully. But the Puerto Ricans 
finally came out second best, for if they were obstinate and 
did not come down to a fair price the soldier would jump 
over the counter and help himself, always paying for what- 
ever he took. Nine times out of ten it was not the price 
asked, but it was more than they could get from the towns- 
people. This may sound a trifle high-handed and domi- 
neering, but what were we to do ? We surely took the 
most direct course to teach our future colonists that their 
Yankee brethren were not to be trifled with. I once went 
into a store looking for something dainty and spied some 
little cakes which looked very toothsome. While wonder- 
ing if they tasted as good as they looked a native whom I 
recognized as one of the clerks in the town hall came in. 
He bought some of the cakes and just out of curiosity, I 
kept close enough to hear the price. When he went out I 
ordered the same quantity and was charged half as much 
again. I did not give the store-keeper his price, but han- 
ded him the correct change. Whereupon he would not sell 



HOUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 169 

me the cakes at all, but threw them back into the box. As 
the only alternative I cooly walked behind the counter and 
helped myself. Always after that we were tolerably good 
friends. . . 

But, to go back to the night that we were paid off. Monte 
tables and roulette wheels were set up all over the town. 
It seemed as if every native owned either one or the other, 
or a pair of dice, or some kind of gambling device whereby 
we could be relieved of our money in the shortest time pos- 
sible. The jingle of silver and buzzing of wheels could be 
heard everywhere. Soldier and native commingled and the 
drunken shouts and brawling reminded me of those Tampa 
days, only the noise seemed to be multiplied a hundred fold 
for the games were all held out in the open air, very few 
private games being held in the houses. The torches with 
which every table was provided lent an uncanny appearance 
to the motley crowd of crazed gamesters as they shouted 
their bets on a card or on some number on the wheel, or the 
ha ha in short, rasping tones from a group of excited crap 
shooters. It was impossible to sleep that night for the 
whole town seemed to have gone mad. The officers seemed 
to think that the men ought to have a fling after the hard- 
ships they had under gone and consequently did not inter- 
rupt them unless a man became too unruly, when he was 
thrown into the guard-house to remain until he should re- 
gain his sober senses. The games were not all run by the 
natives. A few of the soldiers combined their funds into a 
lump sum and founded a bank. These sharpers won a 
mint of money, not only from their comrades and the 
natives but also from the planters. They hearing that the. 
games were in progress, had come into town looking for 
the games where they could stake the most money and at 
the same time get heavy odds. They came across some of 
these tables and were cleaned out in a jiffy. I saw one 



170 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

infantryman the day after, who exhibited a huge roll of 
bills and a pocketful of pesos, his share of the earnings of a 
bank the previous night. 

The assertion which I am about to make may sound a 
trifle egotistical, but nevertheless it is based on facts which 
the majority of army officers will vouch for. A better class 
of men is found in the cavalry than in the infantry branch 
of the service. The simple reason is that the former as 
twice as many duties as the latter and very little idle time, 
while the doughboy is either taking life easily or is up to 
some deviltry. This is so plain that even a lay-man can 
see it. And I must say of the troopers that, considering 
the extenuating circumstances warranting a little fling, they 
did not go to the excesses which the doughboys did, and 
they acquitted themselves nobly amid the many temptations 
which beckoned to them in that God forsaken town for the 
ensuing two weeks after pay-day. I do not mean to say 
that they did not gamble, or that a small number of them 
were not drunk on several occasions, but taken as a whole 
they behaved decently and did not " whoop it up" and 
terrorize the whole town. 

It was the fault of the officers though, more than the en- 
listed men, that better order was not preserved. If the 
officers had used more discipline the guard-house would not 
have been overcrowded with besotted soldiers. 

After things had quieted down somewhat, a game of 
polka was started among half a dozen troopers to while 
away the wearisome hours. Seigel was one of the players. 
I was invited to go into the game, but I kept away for the 
reason that I had been bitten playing moute, and I said to 
myself that if I wanted to have something dainty occasion- 
ally, I would have to quit gambling as it was a very un- 
profitable venture for me. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 171 

The first night of the polka party Siegel lost half of his 
hard earned money. This did not prevent him from going 
into the game again the next night, and, as he said, it was 
just an " appetizer." I failed to see it in that light. He 
started to play and had an unusual run of luck, but before 
he had played an hour he commenced to lose again and 
during the remainder of the night his pile fluctuated, but he 
finally got away with seventy- five dollars to the good. The 
next night before he sat down to play, I asked him to give 
me a third of his winnings to put by for a rainy day. He 
good naturedly handed me twenty-five dollars saying with a 
wink, "in time of peace, prepare for war. Put it away, 
old man." I did as he directed and it was a lucky thing 
that I did, for when I came back about ten o'clock from up- 
town where I had been with Troopers Barr and Snyder, Joe 
was just turning in. To my query as to how he had made 
out he merely grunted, "Lost." Then as if he thought 
some explanation was necessary, he said "I didn't want 
the blame stuff, anyway," and then savagely, " I wanted to 
lose it." 

"Well," I said rather soothingly, "you succeeded all 
right. Don't you care we've got the twenty-five." 

" Huh," was the only answer I got. 

We dropped off to sleep scratching unconsciously, for the 
fleas did not awaken us any more. 

The Eleventh Infantry left L,as Marias about the tenth 
of October. We missed them exceedingly for they were 
jolly, good fellows and were our companions in misery. I 
do not believe that there was a trooper who did not heave 
a jealous sigh' as the last doughboy disappeared down the 
road. The last trace pertaining to the States was gone. 
' ' The doughboys have gone ' ' was repeated from mouth to 
mouth sadly, as if the greatest misfortune had befallen us. 
We felt as if we were doomed to remain in this town the 



172 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

rest of our lives, and ennui, which is one of the soldier's 
chief complaints when cooped up in a place distasteful to 
him, came over us. 

After the Eleventh Infantry had departed, the price of 
food stuffs was considerably lowered. The doughboys had 
paid the thieving rascals two or three prices for their veg- 
etables, fruits and eggs as had the troopers also. We deter- 
mined to stop this wholesale buncoing at the first oppor- 
tunity, so we waited for Sunday, the regular market-day, 
when there was sure to be a large gathering of these ven- 
ders, to complete our plan. 

Early Sunday morning the natives came flocking into 
town well laden with their wares. Not seeing the usual 
crowd of soldiers loitering around on this particular morning 
they made inquiry at the stores and learned that the infan- 
try had left a few days before. This bit of information 
caused much perturbation among them, and it was some 
time before they recovered. They laid their produce on the 
market-place and in a few moments they were busy hagg- 
ling with their native customers. We troopers paid no 
attention whatever but allowed them to proceed with the 
regular course of business. Then, one by one, we mingled 
with the noisy crowd. As soon as we made this move I 
saw several wily peddlers nudge each other and wink slyly, 
as much as to say, "We wont do a thing but soak these 
soldiers." They reckoned without the troopers, however. 

We walked slowly through the crowd stopping occasion- 
ally to price the different things and compare them with the 
prices of the previous Sunday and found that they had 
"bulled" the market again. They asked from five to 
eight centavos for an egg, the usual price was three or four 
centavos. A banana cost one centavo, whereas before we 
could get an armful for the same price. They asked fifteen 
centavos for a quart of milk, the regular price being ten 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 173 

centavos. In fact they had raised the prices on every- 
thing. 

We commenced to buy systematically. First one crowd 
of half a dozen troopers would tackle a native, each man 
buying something and handing him about half the price he 
asked. Then another bunch of troopers would do the same 
thing with some other unsuspecting vender who, seeing a 
crowd of " muy bueuo Americano soldiero," gathered 
around his basket, thought that he was about to make 
" une grande" sale and make a big profit. They all made 
money but nothing like the bonanza they expected. They 
set up a dismal howl that the Americanos were cheating 
them. It was a funny sight to see the troopers like a lot of 
old women arguing and bickering with the natives and 
beating them down from their exorbitant prices. Another 
crowd gathered around a native with a sack full of eggs, 
the greed}- rascal being in danger any moment of having 
the contents smashed. 

Some of them threatened to tell the alcalde of our brisk 
method of breaking prices. One big trooper nabbed a na- 
tive who was more excited than the others and who had 
been shouting that he was going to the alcalde. The troop- 
er yanked him along toward the town hall shaking him, 
and at intervals propelling him with his pedal extremities. 
Upon arriving at the alcalde's office, the native changed his 
mind about complaining and ran back to the market-place. 
There could be but one alternative and the natives seeing 
our determination and that the supply was far in excess of 
the demand, came around to our way of thinking and sold 
out everything they had to the troopers. Henceforth they 
did not attempt to corner the produce market. 

The country being in an unsettled state, there was no pro- 
tection for the planters who lived in the remoter districts 
from the marauding bands of natives. Those whom they 



174 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

enrolled as guards were often hand in glove with robbers, 
and the planters were unable to cope with the self-styled 
" Black Hands." They would not harm the hair on any- 
one's head without first giving warning. Oh, no ! But 
they would very considerately pick up a sheet of paper on 
a hacienda which they had selected to destroy. The in- 
structions on it read something like the following: 

" It is not our intention to threaten you, but if you attach 
any importance to the welfare of your family and yourself, 
you will vacate these premises on or before September 30th. 
It is our purpose to burn this plantation. If you value 
your life, flee ! " 

(Signed) 

"BLACK HANDS." 

A rude drawing of a black hand would be affixed to this 
signature. 

Many of the planters paid not the slightest attention to 
these threats and consequently their families were exposed 
to the most atrocious deeds of violence. The heinous 
crimes of murder, rape and robbery were committed for two 
or three nights after the first alarming reports had reached 
us. The planters refused to accept any assistance from the 
soldiery thinking that the notifications they had received were 
merely threats. But when the natives actually commenced 
their raids, petitions asking for guards came pouring in from 
every quarter. One planter wanted one hundred men 
to patrol his plantation, but the majority of them left the 
number of the guard to the judgment of the commanding 
officer. From one to six men were detailed to every plan- 
tation within a radius of three miles from L,as Marias. The 
monstrous treatment of innocent women and children was 
barbarous and inhuman, and the criminals deserved the 
most severe punishment that could be meted out to them. 
But of the planters themselves, there was but one way to 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 175 

look at it — and that was that they were getting a dose of 
their own medicine. The natives for generations, in fact 
ever since the first occupation of the island by the Spaniards, 
have been nothing more than slaves. They could nevei 
accumulate enough money to better themselves, for five 
centavos was considered excellent wages for a day laborer, 
working from sunrise to sunset. This money they both 
gambled and spent for the sugar-cane or cocoa-nut rum. 
Both of these drinks require but a very small quantity to 
make a man insanely murderous and ready to kill on the 
slightest provocation. The planters fed their peons on salt 
dried fish, meat once a week and bread very seldom. Plan- 
tains, bananas and bread-fruit could be had for the picking, 
and the peons could have existed on the fruits if the plant- 
ers had stopped their meagre allowance. They were treat- 
ed just like beasts, both when living and dead. 

Upon the death of a native of the peon class, the body is 
enclosed in a rough wooden box and dumped in the cem- 
etery. I say dumped, because no other word can adequately 
express it. The cemeteries were so thickly populated with 
their denizens that the coffin was barely covered with earth. 
Very often half a dozen bodies were piled one on top of the 
other. The severe rain storms washing away the earth 
left the bodies to decompose under the heat of the sun. 
Every cemetery which I saw on the island, and I examined 
several, had a specially constructed pit where the bones had 
been thrown to make room for other bodies. It was a re- 
volting sight to look into one of these pits and see human 
skulls grinning at one, the bones and other refuse all jum- 
bled into one confused mass. 

Such is the life of the Puerto Rican peon. He is a slave 
to his master, to his priest, to drink, and gambling. The 
United States Government has undertaken a difficult task 



176 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

in trying to better the condition of these wretched human 
beings who have no conception of the decencies of life. 

The rigorous order with which each man was invested, to 
shoot any suspicious characters, had the desired effect. 
Although no shooting was necessary because the natives 
seeing that the soldiers were guarding the plantations, and 
that their " Krags " were in waiting at any moment to 
teach them a salutary lesson, the country soon settled down 
to its former lethargic state. The guards were still kept on 
the plantations as a precautionary measure until the ring- 
leaders of the ' ' Black Hands ' ' in the vicinity of L,as Marias 
were captured. 

A dozen of these fire-bugs were rounded up and brought 
into L,as Marias by a detail of six troopers who had been 
guarding a couple of plantations. They had succeeded in 
capturing a few of them red handed, in the act of setting 
fire to haciendas and the others were merely suspects. 
This same detail had also captured the two ring-leaders in 
a certain district where we had experienced much trouble. 
They had finally confessed, after evidence was brought to 
bear leaving them no loophole of escape. 

They were a very sorry looking lot of individuals as they 
came into town tied in pairs to a long rope and guarded by 
the cavalcade of troopers. To say that they were fright- 
ened would hardly express it. They were dressed in the 
tvpical peon fashion, trousers and shirt, excepting the two 
leaders who wore shoes and derby hats of an obsolete style. 
These two chaps were undoubtedly of the better class and 
held aloof from the others as far as the rope would allow. 
The\- seemed to be less disturbed than their "pals" who 
were huddled together in a bunch, and who momentarily 
expected some terrible calamity to befall them, for the}' 
mumbled " Ave Marie Jesu," and clung to their scapulars 
as if they had the power to protect them. We troopers 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 177 

gathered around, eager to see these specimens of the 
' ' Black Hands, ' ' who had terrorized the planters to such an 
extent. They did not look at all ferocious — on the con- 
trary, they were, as one of the troopers remarked, "the 
most white livered looking scoundrels he had ever seen." 

Capt. Macomb being away at the time on some planta- 
tion, Lieut. B we will call him, of the Eleventh In- 
fantry, who had been detailed as a substitute to fill the 
vacancy caused by Lieut. Valentine's absence, was sum- 
moned. This Lieut. B had enlisted in the service as 

a private and had passed through the inferior grades of 
corporal, sergeant and first sergeant, and had fiually 
received a commission and then the promotion to a first 
lieutenancy. Such cases are rare in the Regular Army, and 
it is only those whose conduct has been exemplary and who 
are also capable of passing the mental examination, who are 
promoted to a commission, without having graduated from 
West Point. 

Lieut. B had one of those names which are alto- 
gether unpronounceable, owing to the fact that it was coin- 
posed of consonants where the vowels ought to be and vice- 
versa, so we troopers called him " Old Rats" the name that 
had clung to him ever since his association with the Elev- 
enth Infantry. Why he was given this nick-name, was 
always a mystery to me, for he didn't resemble the rodent 
for which he was named. Not a man in the whole brigade 
could tell how or why he came by the name, but still all 
that one had to say was, "Cheese it, boys, here conies 
" Old Rats,' " and there would be a general rush to escape 
his vigilant eye. Of his many eccentricities of character, 
one was, that an enlisted man might come in contact with 
him or pass him by three times a day without saluting, and 
the soldier finally becoming careless, the next time would 
try to do the same thing, when ' ' Old Rats ' ' would turn on 



178 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

the delinquent, and berate him soundly for disrespect to his 
superiors. He would talk to the soldier just as a parent 
might to a naughty child, and after he had finished telling 
him the first duty in which a recruit is drilled, would send 
him away with a "Now be careful, my man, next time," 
the soldier grinning broadly. This was hardly good for 
the discipline and general morale of the service, but at the 

same time it was vastly amusing. Such was Lieut. B 

as he came rushing down from his office to decide what 
should be done with the prisoners. He rushed through a 
crowd of troopers, incidentally knocking over a couple of 
men in his haste to fulfill the stern duties which hung so 
heavily on his shoulders. He questioned the non-com. in 
command of the six men, hurriedly signifying his approval by 
a grunt, which was one of his peculiarities, or his disapproval 
by a "You did wrong, sir, very wrong, sir." The troopers 
were enjoying this performance immensely, indeed it was 
almost as good as a show when ' ' Old Rats ' ' turned suddenly 
on the crowd saying, ' ' Here you, you and you, step forward. ' ' 
The "yous" stepped forward. I was one of them and so 
was Seigel. " Get out your knives and cut the buttons 
from the prisoners trousers," commanded "Old Rats." 
We stood gaping at him and could hardly believe that we 
heard aright. A snicker that was barely audible came from 
our rear, whereupon ' ' Old Rats ' ' sailed in and told the 
others ' ' To get into their quarters or he would have every 
one of them court-martialled. ' ' In ten seconds there was not 
a trooper within a hundred yards, and the natives who had 
flocked to witness the execution, as they believed it to be, 
seeing the troopers scatter, made off down the road, leav- 
ing the irate officer in supreme command. We troopers who 
had been designated to do the cutting advanced toward the 
prisoners, smiling, with our knives open to do the deed, and 
the poor devils seeing our knives and smiling faces, surely 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 179 

expected that they were to be cut, dried and strung up and 
they commenced to pray and look beseechingly at us. We 
grabbed them whereupon they yelled and kicked, but our 
knives being sharp and the buttons being few, our work was 
soon accomplished. The look of amazement on their faces 
at our unprecedented action, when they saw that no harm 
was to befall them other than the total demolishmeut of 
their buttons can hardly be described. They looked at 
each other in a puzzled way as if they could not understand 
it. "Old Rats" stood by with folded arms and with the 
most satisfied expression on his face. When our work was 
completed, we stepped back standing at attention almost 
convulsed with laughter. He exclaimed triumphantly, "It 
is impossible for them to run away, see, their trousers will 
fall. You ma} r now go to your quarters, troopers." When 
we entered the quarters loud shouts of laughter greeted us, 
and the remainder of that day we made the rafters ring with 
merry peals over the ludicrous incident. The prisoners 
were confined in the prison under the town-hall and we 
didn't see them again until they went back to Mayaguez 
with us about two weeks later. 

One night while doing guard duty I had another laugh- 
able experience with L,ieut. B . I had been walking 

my post for perhaps an hour, and it was then about one 
o'clock. The silvery light from a glorious full moon, spread 
over everything. A quietness prevailed everywhere, except 
for the crunching of the horses or the crowing of the cocks 
on some plantation in the vicinity. The beauty of the 
night had set me dreaming of home and friends. I leaned 
on my carbine and gazed at the moon as if I might see my 
horoscope in that brilliant orb. I do not know how long I 
had been in this position, but suddenly I heard a voice, and 
the voice was trying desperately to sing. Moving over in 
the shadow of the picket line, I peeked out. The voice 



180 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

came nearer and nearer, and finally the owner came tacking 
down the road, with head well up, stepping high as if he 
feared the ground was going to jump up and hit him. I recog- 
nized the figure instantly as none other than "Old Rats" 
himself. I sneaked around to the other side of the picket 
line, not wishing to salute him in the condition he was in, and 
awaited developments. His befuddled brain told him that 
it was a shorter route through the picket line than to walk 
around it to his apartment in the town-hall. With a lurch 
he started toward it. I was in hiding behind a horse, 
watching to see what he might do. He came stumbling 
along mumbling to himself, and had just reached the 
picket line, when, instead of bending his head to pass under- 
neath, he ran full tilt against it and went sprawling back- 
ward. I made the most of this opportunity to make myself 
scarce and hurrying to the farthest end of the line walked 
leisurely back again as if wholly unconscious of my super- 
ior's undignified position. I stepped within a few feet of 
where he lay, not caring to avoid him any more than pos- 
sible, for he might have taken it into his head the next day 
to have accused the guard of being absent from his post. 
So I loitered near and commenced to pet a sick horse which 
was lying down and talking encouragingly to the animal. 
The thick voice of "Old Rats" called out, " Thlooper," I 
wheeled around and there he was standing before me, I 
saluted. 

" Whatermatcher wid the horse? " questioned he. "He 
is sick, sir. Can't eat, sir," I answered barely able to 
control my laughter, for he presented a very comical appear- 
ance. His hat awry. Burnside whiskers full of dirt, a 
silly leer on his face and trying his utmost to collect the 
remnants of his dignity. 

"Can't eat, hey?" 

" No sir, neither hay nor anything else, sir." 



ROUGHING 12 WITH THE REGULARS. 181 

He brushed away an imaginary something on his nose 
and almost losing his balance in doing so, he remained silent 
for a moment. Then, as if a particularly bright thing had 
come to him, he said, " Glet some salt." I went away to 
do his bidding, leaving him to his own devices. Going to 
the cook's tent I pulled aside the fly and entered. I stum- 
bled over Bulian the cook, and awoke him. " I want some 
salt, Bulian." Imagine awaking a man for salt at one 
o'clock in the morning. He turned over with a grunt. I 
lit a match and finally came to a box of something which 
looked like salt and grabbing a handful reported to "Old 
Rats," who was bending over the horse trying to pat him, 
but his caresses amounted to nothing more than frantic jabs 
at the animal's head and neck. 

" Here's the salt, sir." 

" Givesh slum. " 

I emptied half a handful into his outstretched hands 
and stepped back respectfully. He knelt down by the 
animal's side and shoved the salt into its mouth. The 
horse swallowed it heaved a sigh and looked around for 
more. This delighted ' ' Old Rats ' ' so that he ordered me 
to get more ; I gave the horse what remained in my hand 
and was about to go for more when he stopped me. 

" Wheresyergoin?" said he. 

"For more salt, sir." 

" That's right, thlooper, give 'm salt. Good for man and 
beast. He's had 'nough. Goo' night." 

" Good night, sir," and I resumed my post. Passing my 
hand over my mouth a few moments later I was surprised 
at the sweet taste which only sugar could leave on my lips. 
I realized then that I had been giving sugar instead of salt 
to the sick horse. I never knew whether the lieutenant 
was aware of it or not, for he was wise enough to let the 
matter drop. 



182 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

Senor Cabrero, whose plantation was about mid-way on 
the road between Mayaguez and L,as Marias and who was 
located in the hot-bed of ' ' BlackHandism ' ' in the parish of 
Las Marias, requested a guard to patrol his plantation, as 
the usual warning had been tacked up on his premises. 
Heretofore this gentleman had not been molested, for the 
very good reason that he was an American citizen. He re- 
lied on this fact alone for immunity, but these robbers and 
cutthroats were again becoming restless, although their 
spirit had been greatly broken by the soldiery. They did 
not use so much discrimination this time as they had before 
done in the treatment of Senor Cabrero. 

Sergeant Gray with Troopers Gohl, Vierthaler and my- 
self were detailed to ride post-haste to the Cabrero planta- 
tion, where we arrived just before dusk. Senor Cabrero 
was standing in the door-way as we entered the grounds, 
the natives having apprised him that they had seen us. He 
greeted us effusively and directed us to a shed where we 
could quarter our horses. After unsaddling and feeding 
our beasts we strolled over to where the sergeant and the 
Senor were earnestly talking. As we came up Senor Cab- 
rero turned around and introduced himself with an alto- 
gether charming grace of manner. He then explained in 
English, very strongly accented, that the letter he had re- 
ceived had set the following night for the destruction of his 
plantation. 

He then escorted us to a room in the rear of the house, 
where a couple of natives had already set up four cots spread 
with immaculate linen. We told him that it was all non- 
sense to make such elaborate preparations ; that we had 
slept almost anywhere but on a bed for months and that the 
floor was plenty good enough. But he only answered by 
raising his eyebrows and making an expressive motion with 
his hand. Taking no notice of our objections he spoke to 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 183 

the natives who had finished making the beds, and were 
standing at attention like a couple of well trained soldiers 
for further orders, which being received they rushed away. 
He never for a moment allowed the conversation to lag 
but questioned us as to how we had fared in the campaign, 
whether we had been ill and how we liked Puerto Rico. 
He then told us that everything he had on the plantation 
was at our disposal and our every wish would be gratified 
if it was in his power to do so. The two natives carried in 
a washstand with the necessary requisites. ' ' Adios, gen- 
tlemen, until after your toilet," he said, "when we will see 
what we can find to eat." 

Where had I heard the word " toilet ? " I had forgotten 
that there was such a word, for the troopers invariably used 
some expressive equivalent, such as "scrape," police-up, 
etc. Indeed, how would it sound for a trooper to say, 
"Well boys, I'm going to make nry toilet." If he was 
ever rash enough to say anything of the sort, the chances 
were that he would be "jollied" unmercifully, and would 
probably acquire the permanent soubriquet of "Toilet." 

When the Senor had gone we stared stupidly at the beds 
as if we did not know what they were for. After three 
months of sleeping on the ground and floor, to sleep between 
sheets that gave out the sweetest of odors, so foreign to our 
nostrils, was a delightful event in our existence, even if it 
lasted for only a week or so. Sergeant Gray was the first to 
break the silence. 

"Well, boys, I'm flabbergasted," he said, as he sat 
rather gingerly on the edge of the bed, with arms out- 
stretched half afraid to trust to his own convictions of the 
reality of the beds. 

"What's the matter, Sarg.," said Gohl, rolling up his 
sleeves preparatory to a " scrape" at the wash-stand. 



184 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

" I don't see no crowd around," said the sergeant sarcas- 
tically. 

" I thought you had rheumatiz, the way you sat on that 
bed," chuckled Gohl. 

Just then our host appeared in the door-way saying, 

1 ' You gentlemen ready for supper ? ' ' 

The sergeant bounded off the bed showing that he was 
anything but rheumatic and made a bee-line for the wash- 
stand. He sputtered and blew with keenest relish and 
after sousing his head a number of times, he groped around 
for the towel, saying, " That's the first good wash in four 
months, senor. " 

Seeing us trying to part our hair with our fingers, the 
senor ordered a couple of combs and a mirror. After com- 
pleting our toilet our host led the way upstairs to the living 
apartments. The first or ground floor was used in the cus- 
tomary fashion as a store house for farming implements and 
for housing the cattle. 

Mounting one flight of stairs we passed through a hall, 
and then into a spacious dining-room well lighted with oil 
lamps, for it was now almost dark. Beyond this room was a 
broad veranda and Senor Cabrero placing out some chairs 
excused himself for a few moments. 

The supper table with the spotless linen, silver service 
and fine china seemed strange, yet familiar. We four 
troopers in our bespattered uniforms seemed out of place in 
this delightful villa, so artistically and daintily furnished. 
We had not waited any length of time before the senor re- 
turned, his wife on his arm, and after the formalities of 
an introduction they led the way into the dining-room. 
There are some incidents in a man's life which he never 
forgets, whether they be hair-breadth escapes from death, 
or merely common-place occurrences which are impressed on 
his memory, more especially from disuse. So it was with 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 185 

this memorable supper which we long afterward remember- 
ed as the first square meal in three months. 

Our appearance was in such contrast to that of our host 
and hostess that it naturally made us feel ill at ease and 
bashful. She was gowned in some loose stuff which the 
Spanish women wear so becomingly. He was dressed 
appropriately in a white linen suit and looked as neat as we 
did untidy. The sensation of sitting at a table, spreading 
a napkin over our weather-stained kahki trousers, and 
tucking a corner into our blue shirt fronts, was novel, to say 
the least, and we laughed rather vacantly at our awkwardness 
in trying to comply with the laws of table etiquette once more. 

Sergeant Gray began to apologize for our rough appear- 
ance but Seuora Cabrero stopped him instantly remarking 
naively, " Clothes do not make ze man." The pretty ac- 
cent and the simplicity of her manner captivated us and 
made us feel at home without any more ceremony. 

A variety of meats, vegetables and fruits constituted the 
supper. The only objectionable edible was the canned 
butter which is imported from Holland. It is very rancid 
in flavor and quite unpleasant for one not accustomed to it. 
It was the only butter used on the island, none whatever 
being made there. 

After our appetites had been appeased both the senor and 
his wife led the way in conversation. Coffee, cigars and 
wines were served and our tongues flew fast. We became 
greatly interested in a short sketch of the life of a brother 
of the senora, who had been a general in the Cuban army 
of the Revolution of '78. At that time she was a resident 
of Havana and an eye witness to the cruel deeds practiced 
on innocent women and children, and her description was 
so graphic that she held us spellbound. 

The conversation finally drifted around to the States. 
They lived in New York the greater part of the time, 



186 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

merely using the plantation as a winter resort and as a ref- 
uge to get far from " the madding crowd." 

As soon as I became av/are that they were New Yorkers 
the Senora and I were soon deeply engrossed discussing 
New York topics — the theatres, new books, etc., until 
about 8. 30 when Sergeant Gray broke in on our tete-a-tete 
saying, 

"Well, fellows we'd better be moving I think. We'll 
commence at nine o'clock with a three hour guard duty for 
each man until six o'clock to-morrow morning. Is that 
agreeable to you Seuor Cabrero ? ' ' 

"Perfectly sir," he answered. 

We begged to be excused and leaving the table made our 
way down stairs. I had become so interested in our host- 
ess that for a time I had forgotten onr mission. 

" From Broadway, to gunning after coffee colored nig- 
gers, hey Olley?" said the sergeant with a grin, and I gave 
a sigh at the recollection. 

I had first choice, having drawn the shortest of the three 
straws offered us by the sergeant and took the hours from 
nine to twelve. Our instructions were to walk around the 
coffee-mill and residence and fire at anything that looked 
like a human being. "You need make no bones about 
their being innocent parties, for the senor has told his peons 
exactly what to expect if they come prowling around, so if 
you see any hnmans you'll know that they are after no 
good," were the sergeant's parting words before he turned 
in. I walked my post for three hours in the pitchy dark- 
ness, for there was no moon, keeping well within the sha- 
dow of the buildings and on the lookout for any prowlers. 
The quietness of the three hours was unbroken, save for 
the passing of a pack-train along the road and the hair- 
raising scream from a screech owl. I had often heard this 
diabolical noise both on the island and in the "States" but 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 187 

had never before been near enough to fully appreciate the un- 
earthly sound. I had been listening to the last hoof-beat 
of the pack train and the shouts of the native drivers, and 
the former stillness had settled down, when out of the 
blackness of the night there arose that blood-curdling 
screech. I jumped back into the deepest shadow of the 
coffee-mill, somewhat startled and for a moment I stared in 
the direction from which the sound had come. 

The absurdity of my behavior overcame any momentary 
feeling of fear and I laughed aloud. The owl in turn start- 
led at my mirth, which no doubt sounded as terrifying to 
him as his screech had to me, flapped away and I heard it 
screeching down the valley a few moments later, perhaps 
laughing at fears which it may itself have entertained. 
About five minutes to twelve I aroused Gohl, my relief. 

"Anything doing, Oliver?" he said. 

"Nary," said I sleepily, and I turned in. 

We were up at six o'clock the next morning. Our horses 
had already been fed by order of Seuor Cabrero, who would 
not allow us to groom our own beasts, but detailed a couple 
of natives as our servants. There was not an earthly thing 
to do but to idle away the time all day long. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Our host showed us all over the coffee-mill of which he 
was very proud, as he had good reason to be, as it was one 
of the finest on the island. During my experience in 
Puerto Rico I never saw a more complete assortment of 
machinery for the preparation of the bean, from the time it 
was gathered until it was ready for the table. The major- 
ity of the planters merely prepared the bean for shipment, 
not having the machinery necessary for roasting, while he 
had made a study of coffee growing, and the most of his 



188 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

machinery was of his own invention and patented. So we 
idled away the days, smoking good cigars and reading the 
recent issues of American magazines and newspapers. It 
was assuredly an ideal spot, overlooking a deep valley, 
where the Rio Armas wended its silvery course, and which 
stream Senor Cabrero used as the motive power for his mill. 
The mountain sides were covered with coffee shrubs, shaded 
by the mango, bread-fruit and other tropical fruits, while 
the feathery palms rose majestically above them. An oc- 
casional peon's hut peeped through the thick foliage, and 
the white garbed coffee pickers flitted back and forth from 
one bush to another, busily gathering the ripe berries before 
a tropical storm might scatter them to the four winds of 
Heaven. 

All this we could see as we reclined in easy chairs on the 
veranda, looking upon the beautiful scene, idly conjectur- 
ing as to how long this paradisaical existence would con- 
tinue. The delicious aroma of coffee arising from the 
mill, the sing-song of the machinery, mingled with the 
buzzing of insects as they glittered in the bright sunshine 
seemed the essence of our beings. But such a lazy life ! 
Nothing to do but to eat, dream and read. Coffee and 
crackers were served at seven and ten in the morning and 
at three in the afternoon. A hearty supper was indulged 
in at six in the evening and then three hours guard duty 
for each man. This constituted our day's work. Nothing 
came out of the threat to burn the plantation, for the 
' ' Black Hands ' ' were cowards at the best and did not 
relish an interview with the business ends of our Krags. 

We had finished the customary lunch of coffee and crack- 
ers one morning and were just about to move out to the 
veranda, when the senor took down from the mantel a pho- 
tograph of a very beautiful young lady. 

"This is my daughter, gentlemen," he said. 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 189 

He handed the picture to the sergeant who went into 
raptures over her beauty, as he usually did over anything 
on the plantation which the senor took particular pains to 
explain to him. This time his admiration was fully 
justified, as I soon saw for myself, for though I had noticed 
the picture, I had not looked closely at it. "She is visit- 
ing in L,ares, but I wish that she were here that she might 
have the pleasure of meeting you all," he said. We ex- 
pressed our regret to the senor in fitting terms. 

"She is a very beautiful young lady and the image of 
your wife, senor," said the sergeant, thinking to pay a fine 
compliment to that lady. Nov/ the senora was a handsome 
woman but she looked no more like the girl in the picture 
than did Gray himself. When he heard this flattering 
remark the senor looked queerly at his wife and she at him. 
A blush suffused her face and she turned away with an em- 
barrassed smile. The senor shook with suppressed laugh- 
ter and finally let out a shout, unable to check himself any 
longer. We stared at him in amazement, not understand- 
ing the cause of his merriment, for the sergeant's compli- 
ment though roughly turned, was intended in good faith. 
Finally our host was able to control himself sufficiently to 
explain that the senora was his second wife and the step- 
mother of the girl in the photograph. 

Gray listened with wide open eyes until the words 
' ' second wife ' ' reached his ears and then turned and fled 
from the room saying, " Golly ! I put my foot into it that 
time. Excuse me." 

The senor let out another peal of laughter in which we 
all joined including even the senora. During the remainder 
of cur stay Gray was more guarded in his speech and never 
attempted any more gallantries towards our hostess. 

The lazy days rolled away to a week and we were becom- 
ine- tired of doing nothing. There was no excitement 



190 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

whatever, only the humdrum life of the plantation which 
was too monotonous, and the "Black Hands" were lying 
low while there was any chance of their receiving a 
puncture. 

Early one morning Trooper Starace arrived at the plan- 
tation from L,as Marias, with the soldier's mail for the States 
and documents from Capt. Macomb, to be delivered to the 
Assistant Adjutant General at Mayaguez. Starace had 
orders that one of our number was to relieve him and jour- 
ney on to the above city, while he should fill the vacancy 
thus made. 

We were all anxious to make the trip and each begged 
the sergeant for the privilege. He singled me out as my 
horse was in good condition and I was a light weight. 
From the latest reports the roads were in a terrible condi- 
tion, and traveling was difficult for man and beast. 

That forenoon about ten o'clock I saddled up, and after 
bidding adieu to the Cabreros and thanking them for their 
hospitality, started on the journey to Mayaguez. 

We had heard from Senor Cabrero of several ' ' hold- 
ups ' ' on the road and I had my six-shooter well within 
grasping distance to guard against any surprises from these 
gentlemen of the road. 

There was about one chance in a hundred of this happen- 
ing, as I did not think that any native would be fool-hardy 
enough to interfere with the U. S. Mail, but fearing that 
they had not been educated up to the seriousness of such an 
offence, I was determined to take no chances. 

We had heard from the mule- skinners when in I^as 
Marias, what we thought might be slightly exaggerated 
statements in regard to the impassable condition of the 
roads. It was no exaggeration as I found before I had 
gone one hundred paces. 

The Engineer Corps had corduroyed the road so as to 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 191 

enable the artillery to pass when we first had passed along 
the road in the tracks of the retreating Alphonso XIII. 

My horse often stumbled as his hoofs slid between the 
saplings, but by keeping a good tight rein I prevented him 
from falling. But at one time both fore-feet became entan- 
gled, and in trying to extricate himself he fell on his knees, 
throwing me over his head and I landed in the mud, head 
first. At no time was the mud below his fetlocks and more 
often it reached to his belly, until we struck the macadam 
road leading into Mayaguez. 

I overtook a young fellow who was also traveling on 
horse-back, when within a couple of miles of the city. He 
was riding one of the finest specimens of the Puerto Rican 
ponies I have ever seen. We exchanged a Bueno Dios and 
rode along side- by side for some distance. Very gradually 
we increased our speed, and then he forged ahead and look- 
ed back over his shoulder to see if I understood the chal- 
lenge. I responded by putting the spur to Bouncer and 
leaning forward, whispered into his ear, " Catch him, old 
man, catch him ". 

Away we sped for a quarter of a mile, the little Porto 
Rican horse holding his own, but Bouncer was just warm- 
ing up. He gave a snort, straightened out his neck, put 
his best foot forward and in a couple of minutes we were 
neck and neck, and then my good beast shot ahead. I 
turned in my saddle and waved my hand to my Spanish ac- 
quaintance who was spurring his horse. " Ho, ho ! my 
friend, you want more, do you? All right, go ahead 
Bouncer. ' ' The little horse was creeping up again and I 
could not but admire his pluck, but it nettled me some- 
what that I could not lose the courageous little brute. But 
I was not the only factor for Bouncer was getting worried 
too, for with another snort he redoubled his efforts and the 
pace became terrific as we fairly flew over the smooth road. 



192 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

From the time we started, the natives along the route had 
gathered by the road-side, having doubtless heard the clat- 
ter from some distance, and seeing me in the lead, shouted, 
'" Vivas" and "Huzzas" for the Americano cavallero. I 
finally lost the Spaniard altogether and slowed down so 
that he might come up as I wanted to congratulate him on 
the game race he had put up, but as he did not appear I 
continued on to Mayaguez alone. 

, About five o'clock in the afternoon I clattered up the 
13th of August street to the Alphonso XIII barracks, then 
occupied by the nth Infantry. Dismounting I enquired 
for headquarters and was directed to the Custom House 
about a half a mile further on. 

"How's Troop A, anyway?" said one of the dough- 
bo} T s, seeing the ensign on my hat. "Still living I sup- 
pose." 

" Sure thing," I said, " will see you later." 

Remounting I rode down to headquarters, and arriving 
there left my horse in charge of a native while I went in- 
side. 

The Custom House was a massive stone building, and I 
walked through the corridor until I came to an open door 
through which I passed into a small ante-room. An order- 
ly advanced and requested me to state my business. 

" Documents for Ass't Adjutant General," I replied. 

' ' Wait a minute. ' ' He disappeared through a door- way 
and a moment later motioned for me to enter. Hat in 
hand I entered the adjoining room and stepped up to a 
flat topped desk behind which a very austere looking officer 
was standing. 

Saluting, I handed him the papers and stepped back, 
standing at attention. Suddenly he looked up and snarled. 

" Here, you fellow, stand at 'tention, can't you? 

I was resting ever so lightly on my right foot and a cas- 




CN THE ROAD '?' TO MAYAGUEZ. 



ROUGHING I'l WITH THE REGULARS. 193 

ual observer would not have noticed it, but in his eyes my 
behavior was disrespectful and unpardonable. 

I swallowed the rebuke, as he was justified in calling me 
to order, although he might have used some discrimination, 
seeing my mud stained clothes, and allowed such a trifling 
irregularity to pass without noticing it, for the ride had 
been tiresome. 

It would have been such a satisfaction though to have 
made some retort, but I straightened up and stood like a 
wooden man. Such is discipline in the regular army. 

"Come here to-morrow morning trooper. You may go," 
said the strict disciplinarian, I saluted, right about faced 
and rode off to the post-office to leave the mail. 

I left my horse at the quartermaster's, and then strolled 
into the barracks and made myself known to Sergeant 
Smith, to whom Sergeant Gray had directed me before 
leaving the plantation. Smith had been a ' buukie ' of 
Gray's when the latter was a doughboy and I was received 
by him with open arms and was given a cot and supper, 
after which I roamed about town with a doughboy whom 
I had picked up. He was a jolly sort of fellow and we 
whiled awa> a couple of hours in the cafes very pleasantly. 

Mayaguez is a beautiful little city, charmingly situated at 
the base of a range of verdant mountains facing the ocean. 
The city is far more artistically built, both as regards the 
thoroughfares, of which there are about thirty, and the 
houses, than either San Juan or Ponce. It is the third 
largest city on the island, and has a population of about 
twenty-five thousand. It exports sugar, coffee and tobacco, 
principally the first two products. The best of the tobacco 
is shipped to Habana, where ' genuine Havana ' cigars are 
made from it. 

The city is equipped with a hospital, public library, a 
theatre, several schools and a post office and is altogether 



194 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

an up-to-date town. Diminutive horse-cars drawn by the 
lilliputian native ponies go rattling along over a narrow 
guage track. The tinkling bells on the horses' collars her- 
ald each dinky car for some distance. 

The Calle-Mendez-Vigo is the bon-tou street of the city. 
It is about half a mile in length and the palatial homes of 
rich merchants and planters give it an aristocratic aspect. 
Many of thase houses have gardens in front filled with 
shrubbery and many colored tropical flowers. As one 
stands on the extreme end of this street and looks down 
toward the blue patch of ocean which shows between the 
houses, (the majority of which are of the two story style) 
the view reminds one of a colored photograph, so clear is 
the atmosphere and so clean cut do the roofs stand out 
against the turquoise sky. 

But it is at night that Mayaguez throws off its stupor 
which clings to it during the day, for it is then that the 
houses, stores and cafes, are well lighted and well filled. 
The arc light takes the place of the glaring sun which 
bakes the streets during the heat of the day, for the town 
boasts an electric plant. Another of the comforts of civili- 
zation is found in an ice manufactory, a commodity which 
would otherwise be unknown in this climate. 

The plazas were crowded with bevies of laughing senor- 
itas who strolled up and down, down and up, for hours, 
two, four and six in a row. The town band which had 
belonged to the Alphonso XIII. was playing a selection 
from some opera. No rag-time music if you please. The 
Mexican national air of " L,a Paloma ' ' was borne along on 
the night air and as I sat on a bench in the Plaza Principal, 
with a good cigar between my lips — guaranteed by the 
store-keeper as a genuine Havana. I watched this attrac- 
tive scene and longed to sit there all night if the promenad- 
ing would only continue for that time. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 195 

At nine o'clock my doughboy acquaintance left, as the first 
call for taps had sounded. As I was under no orders from 
anyone and was permitted to go and come as I pleased I 
remained seated until twelve o'clock when the throng began 
to thin out and disappear. 

I tarried for a few minutes until the plaza was deserted. 
The moon was just peeping over the shoulder of the colos- 
sal statue of Columbus which stood in the middle of the 
plaza. Up and up the bright orb came, until it encircled 
the famous explorer's head befittingly, like a halo. I com- 
pared the poverty stricken Las Marias with this ga3' and 
festive little city, and my heart sickened when I thought 
that on the morrow I would be in "Lost Marie" as the 
troopers had nicknamed it and in the buggy barracks again. 
As far as the fleas were concerned however, there was no 
choice for the Ouartel del Infanteria, the barracks in which 
the Eleventh Infantry was then quartered, had more fleas to 
the square inch than our barracks in Las Marias, as I found 
out during the night. If I had known this at the time, 1 
could have curled up on the road somewhere instead of 
returning to the barracks. 

A native policeman strutted past with his Mauser carbine 
on his shoulder, and as he caught sight of me in the shadow 
he looked curiously at me, wondering I supposed, what 
attraction there was in the moon for an American soldier. 

I greeted him with a " Buenos noches, senor," and he 
politely returned the courtesy. Imagine saying good night 
to a New York policeman ! What would be the conse- 
quences? Probably a " G'wan now and stop yer gab, if 
yez don't want ter be run in. See." 

I chuckled to myself, as I sauntered down the deserted 
street toward the barracks, over the thought of how I might 
possibly startle a policeman of New York town out of his 
usual stolid indifference by nodding to him and saying good 



196 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

night, when the strain of the beautiful "Blue Danube" 
was wafted to my ears. As I came abreast of the house 
from which the music came, I saw through the open win- 
dows, a room full of young people dancing and merrily 
enjoying themselves. My feet fairly ached to be one of the 
dancers also and as the harmonious air continued, I uncon- 
sciously moved my feet, one two, three, one, two, three, 
with a lamp-post for a partner. Horror of horrors ! The 
tune changed suddenly to " After the Ball," but as anxious 
as I was to dance I could not bear the sound of this tune 
which once I could sing backward, I verily believe. So I 
fled along the street and that night my brain ran riot with 
the " Blue Danube," "After the Ball" and the fleas. 

At six o'clock the next morning I started for Las Marias, 
after having called at the custom-house per my instructions 
of the night before, and then at the post-office for the mail. 
At about four o'clock that afternoon I climbed the long hill 
leading into Las Marias having covered twenty miles in the 
remarkable time of ten hours. 

For the next few days I kept stringing the fellows on the 
good time I had enjoyed in Mayaguez. The pretty girls I 
had seen and the good eating which could be procured 
there, as I had no doubt, although I had not a " sou- 
markee ' ' in my clothes when I was there, I had left all 
my money with Siegel for safe keeping when starting for 
the Cabrero plantation. Last, but not least, I told of the 
deliciously cool drinks one could bu} r there. The fellows 
had not had a cool drink for months and this was the last 
straw, for they threatened to throw me in the Rio Armas if 
I did not cease my clacking tongue. 

One day about a week later a company of volunteer 
doughboys on native ponies arrived in town. They be- 
longed to some Kentucky outfit which had been quartered 
in Mayaguez but which had been broken up into detach- 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 187 

merits to garrison several small towns. This regiment 
claimed the honor of being the first American soldiers to 
march into Mayaguez, whereas they did not do any such 
thing until several days after we had vacated the city to 
follow on the trail of the Spaniards. 

The day after their arrival at Las Marias, we received 
orders to pack up and start for Mayaguez. The arrival of 
the paymaster was not a circumstance to this welcome bit 
of news. A mighty cheer rent the air and in a couple of 
hours every bit of camp equippage was packed away in the 
wagons and we pulled out. The trip into Mayaguez was 
of no special moment, except that every man was bubbling 
over with good spirits. Moreover, I think that in each 
heart there was a secret exultation that our disclaimers 
had the honor of occupying L,as Marias after us, as they had 
done at Mayaguez. 

The mules pulled the heavy wagons as if imbued with 
new strength and, in fact, one three span team drawing the 
wagon in which the prisoners were riding, pulled so stren- 
uously that the traces broke and the mules went galloping 
down the road with a couple of cavalrymen in close pursuit. 
Arriving in Mayaguez the prisoners were delivered to the 
civil authorities and a couple of months later, Troopers 
Spear and Leahy who had composed part of the detach- 
ment which had captured these natives red-handed, when 
just about to fire a plantation, were summoned from Camuy 
to give their evidence. I never knew the fate of these in- 
cendiaries but I have no doubt that they were given the 
full penalty, with a long imprisonment or a possible execu- 
tion. In any case they deserved severe sentence. 

At this time a ' ' Flag Day ' ' was appointed for every city 
and town on the island. It was made the occasion for a 
general holiday. The Puerto Rican national hymn together 
with "My Country 'tis of Thee " was played by the town 



198 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

band and the Eleventh Infantry was drawn up in front of 
the barracks, ready to present arms as soon as the signal 
for the artillery to fire their pieces was given. When the 
flag floated to the breeze over the custom-house, post-office 
and barracks, bang, bang, bang went the guns, the populace 
-cheered and the formal ceremony of the evacuation of the 
Spaniards in Puerto Rico and the raising of " Old Glory " 
was consummated. 

We remained a few days in Mayaguez and then took the 
road again. Our objective point no one knew except Capt. 
Macomb, but this did not worry us any. The change did 
us a world of good and the jokers and jolliers again turned 
loose their gibes and mockeries at one another in perfect 
good fellowship. The first town at which we arrived was 
Anasco, about six miles from Mayaguez. All that after- 
noon we packed the luggage-wagon and mules on the train. 
"This railroad connected Homigueros, Mayaguez, Anasco 
and Aguadilla respectively, the latter town being our next 
^destination. 

The short cut which we were about to take across the 
mountains to Aguadilla, is about eight miles long. The 
regular wagon road followed the shore around a peninsula, 
parallel with the railroad for a distance of twenty- five miles 
to the above town. By following the short cut or trail, we 
would save about sixteen miles. We were using all the 
cars on the railroad, five in number, else we might have 
been transported in the same way as was our camp equip- 
page. 

I believe that Capt. Macomb telegraphed to Mayaguez 
for more cars for that purpose and was informed that there 
were no cars other than those that we had. 

The little Puerto Rican scout, whom we had named 
"Friday" after the illustrious slave of Robinson Crusoe, 
still accompanied us. He led the way and by the time we 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 199 

had travelled a mile, the troopers, if they could have laid 
hands on him, would have shaken his precious little life 
out in bunches, for such damnable travelling was never seen. 

The troop was strewn along for over a mile, before two 
miles were covered, and after that we were scattered over 
the surrounding mountains. We urged on our exhausted 
horses. Some of them were unable to stand the tough 
work of climbing almost perpendicular boulders and wading 
through muddy stream beds two or three feet deep without 
intervals of resting. Several times the troopers became 
lost in impenetrable thickets where the sunlight was cut 
off by the jungle of vines and trees. All these mishaps 
caused delay after delay. Many shins were barked for it 
was positively suicidal to ride and many a horse shoe rolled 
down the steep mountain sides that day. 

About four o'clock that afternoon Aguadilla was sighted 
a couple of miles away. In our rear were the rugged 
mountains which we had so laboriously climbed. Below 
us was this peaceful little city nestled in a range of high 
hills and mountains. The beautifully blue ocean stretched 
away before it. We could see the sailing vessels far out to 
sea. The smoke from a liner was visible above the hori- 
zon. Groves of palms nodded and beckoned on the white 
sandy beach where the surf rolled and tumbled in one long 
foamy line. The roofs of the houses resembled tiny little 
many colored basins and the people in the streets were 
mere specks. Over all a glorious sun was setting in all its 
tropical loveliness, its rays shooting straight through the 
gorgeous clouds, on to the ocean in flooding streams of 
golden light. Such a scene as this can not be imagined, it 
has to be viewed from a personal observation to be fully 
appreciated. 

We descended the trail and finally came to a wide road 
which led in a round about way from Anasco to Aguadilla, 



200 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

but which would have been the easiest for us, for at the 
most, we saved only half a dozen miles by taking the bridle 
path. 

The inhabitants of the town came flocking out to greet 
us for they had never before seen any American soldiers. 
It was not unpleasant to receive applause and smiles from 
the pretty senoritas and the more sedate senoras on the 
balconies, or even the rough welcomes which the rag-a- 
muffin natives yelled at us. We rode through the town 
wedged in by the admiring throngs and pitched our camp 
on the other side. We immediately made preparations for 
a " feed " for we were ravenously hungry, not having eaten 
a mouthful since sunrise, and the hard march had whetted 
our appetite to a keen edge. 

There were more children in that town, the majority of 
whom were as clothesless as the day they were born, than 
any town we had passed through, as it appeared to us. 
They overran the camp like a lot of flies on a piece of fly- 
paper just as soon as we commenced to eat. We hugely 
enjoyed the stunts we made them go through with be- 
fore we gave them a single morsel, by making them turn 
" back flips," hand-springs and all sorts of antics. It was 
a sight such as would have pleased the professional taste of 
a circus man. 

Fancy half a hundred brown or black urchins tumbling 
around on the ground, the troopers shouting out their 
approval to some youngster who was fairly turning himself 
inside out, to please the fastidious taste of the man who held 
a hardtack temptingly in mid air. The audience of appro- 
ving natives, the majority of whom were the parents of 
these juvenile acrobats, were waiting to grab their offspring 
as soon as their arms or tin pails were filled with provender. 
We could have given away all our supply of canned meat 
that first evening, if Bulian had not refused to serve another 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 201 

man. My ! how hungry the troopers were (to get rid of the 
corpses. ) 

We thought that the natural curiosity and gormandism 
of the natives would wear off in a couple of days, and in 
fact the curiosity did. The streets during the day wore 
their usual deserted appearance, but as soon as mess call 
sounded there was a general outpouring of natives from 
their shacks. The children were in the van running helter 
skelter for camp from every direction, with their shirt tails 
flying in the wind or not, as the case happened to be, their 
elders a good second. 

An enterprising American sailor had set up a restaurant 
in town, where a reasonably good meal could be had for 
twenty- five cents (American) or fifty centavos (Puerto 
Rican) money. Roast chicken, a variety of vegetables, 
bread, coffee and ice-cream composed the menu. During 
our sojourn Siegel and I patronized this place occasionally, 
in fact as long as pockets would allow, but as our pockets 
were not of an extraordinary length, nor were they lined 
with money, we were obliged to limit our desires accord- 
ingly, usually eating one meal a day — our supper — in 
"Sailor Jack's." 

The horses were bathed every afternoon in the surf, and 
in a short time the sore backs were healed. Both the hair 
and skin had been falling off from exposure to the wet, and 
the fierce heat of the sun scalding the water had left many 
of the horses almost totally unfit for the saddle. 

The salt water was also more beneficial to the sore fet- 
locks, on which the maggots swarmed and thrived, than all 
the wagon grease which Fisher, our farrier, plastered on 
those injured members. Take it all in all it was a gala week 
for both men and horses, to say nothing of the object lesson 
to the natives on the subject of the plentiful use of water, for 
the Porto Rican peon indulges in a " Mexican wash ' ' oc- 



202 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

casionally. That is to say, the perspiration is merely wiped 
from the face leaving the rest of the anatomy for the 
clothes to hide. It may seem strange, but their clothing, 
especially the shirts and trousers of the men, were usually 
of immaculate whiteness. 

One day Seigel resolved — there being nothing else to 
do — to visit the village barber and get a shave. Some of 
the troopers had patronized this tonsorial artist and they 
did not give him an Ai reputation, but nevertheless we 
decided to pa3' him a visit. L,ike the majority of the native 
barbers his razors were not honed — sharpened for the stiff 
beards of the soldiers — the natives' beards being soft and 
downy. In the larger cities first class barbers could be 
found where one could be shaved, and indeed these estab- 
lishments were as well appointed as any to be found in 
the first class hotels in New York. 

We strolled down the street looking for the building 
which was occupied by the barber, having received 
instructions from the troopers about where to look for it, 
for most of the houses were of the same style frame build- 
ings. After making numerous inquiries of the natives, by 
going through a pantomimic show of shaving, we were 
finally directed to an old ram-shackle building with a shop 
on the ground floor. Siegel opened the door and I followed 
him into a room that was unmistakably used for almost 
anything but a barber shop. 

I had been in a curiosity shop before, but this stuffy little 
room was the most curious and musty place I had ever seen 
or smelt. It looked as if the floor had been dealt a blow 
from beneath and tumbled the books, shoes, shoe-maker's 
tools, and bric-a-brac on to the floor. Along the walls were 
arranged rows upon rows of dusty shelves on which were 
bottles large and small. Over in a corner stood a massive 
book-case bulging with dusty old volumes which looked as 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 203 

if they had not been touched for years, but which gave a 
literary aspect strangely out of place with the other nonde- 
script appointments of the room. 

An obsolete barber-chair squatted before a mirror, old 
and cracked, which hung on the wall. Siegel had already 
taken possession of the chair, stretching out full length on 
the faded plush, and showing his appreciation of the 
springs and soft upholstery by a grunt of satisfaction. 

A broad-shouldered, white-haired, distinguished looking 
old fellow opened a door which no doubt led to the living 
rooms above. He stood in the doorway with his arms 
akimbo, smiling at us in a friendly fashion. We recog- 
nized him instantly as one who had been in the van-guard 
with the alcalde and other notables when we first marched 
into town. We returned his smiles and nodded saying, 
"Buenos dios, senor." This salutation seemed to tickle 
the old chap immensely, for he came forward and affably 
shook hands and went over to a table and came back later 
with a pair of pincers that looked suspiciously like a pair 
with which "Mickey" Walsh, our blacksmith, used to 
pull out horse-shoe nails. 

Siegel had unsuspectingly closed his eyes and was pa- 
tiently waiting to be lathered. I watched the old fellow 
breathlessly as he slid up to Siegel with the pincers poised 
in mid-air, wondering what manner of shave my " bunkie " 
was about to have. I sat in open-mouthed amazement 
speculating whether the old barber was about to snip off 
each separate hair or possibly pull Joe's beard out by the 
roots. He pressed his left hand on Joe's shoulder with no 
gentle force, whereupon Joe opened his eyes and seeing the 
gigantic pincers let out a terrific yell. It was something 
akin to, but much louder than what I imagine any other 
terrified man would give on a like occasion. The old fel- 
low jumped a couple of feet in the air and I, also, was 



204 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

rather startled at Siegel's healthy show of disapproval. 
We three then stared at each other in blank astonishment 
for a moment, and then the old Spaniard commenced to 
mutter "caramba". He shuffled over to a table and 
picked up a razor and held it up so that we could see it. 
He then went through the pantomine of lathering his face 
and drawing the razor over it significantly. Siegel nodded 
in the affirmative as to what his intentions were in coming 
to the shop. The barber commenced to talk a long string 
of Spanish and then looked inquiringly at us to see if we 
understood him but we shook our heads unresponsively. 

" Caramba" he chuckled again. He took down a glass 
jar from its place on the book-case, which had attracted 
our attention when first we had entered the place. He re- 
moved the cover and showed us the contents, which was 
nothing more or less than hundreds of human teeth. The 
whole situation then dawned on us. He thought that Joe 
wanted a tooth extracted. As he was a general utility man 
in town, anything from shoeing a horse, mending shoes down 
to shaving was in his line. He had supposed with a great deal 
of assurance that Joe had a defective molar and had acted 
accordingly. We enjoyed the joke as much as he, only 
our laughter was loud and pealed forth naturally, whereas 
he, poor old soul, wheezed and sputtered, his face one mass 
of wrinkles and grimaces. 

Siegel, of course, put his hand in his pocket to pay 
when he had been shaved, but the venerable Spaniard 
would not have it for a moment. He bowed us out of the 
shop with a " Buenos dios, senors, Americano muy bueno,'' 
and several other phrases, which were no doubt, as compli- 
mentary as the others, but which we could not understand. 
Siegel thanked him, of course, merely as a matter courtesy, 
for his face was as red as a beet where the old fellow had 
scraped him. 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 205 

"You are a chronic fault finder, Joe, you can't get 
something for nothing," I said philosophically. 

He assumed an injured air, still rubbing his hands over 
the raw spots. 

"You're talking through )^our hat again old man. I 
wished you had my face and you'd think you had some- 
thing." 

"Perhaps," I said, in an insinuating tone and we both 
fell to laughing, and locking arms we both returned to 
camp. 

When Columbus discovered Puerto Rico in 1493, he 
landed (according to the tradition of the inhabitants) on 
what is now called Cape Borinqueu, a point of land 
jutting from the main land a couple of miles north of 
Aguadilla. A modern lighthouse throws out its rays for 
miles to warn the mariners of the treacherous reefs and 
shoals abounding along the shore. 

A formerly beautiful fountain of white marble, to commem- 
orate the intrepidity of that hardy explorer, has been 
erected over the spring from which he quenched his thirst. 
Through neglect and age the masonry gaped in places, 
and some of the statuary representing water nymphs, and 
which had adorned the higher or drinking fountain had 
fallen into a thousand pieces on to the flagging below. 
Some of the figures still remained in their original posi- 
tions, looking downward with a fixed stare at the spark- 
ling water, as if lamenting the loss of their sister nymphs 
who had fallen and as if they too, were fearful of toppling 
over. 

Invalids are permitted to bathe in the pool which is 
lower than that used for drinking purposes. The supposi- 
tion and the general belief of the natives being that the 
water possesses wonderful healing qualities for all bodily 
ills. In the early morning and evening, the only time 



206 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

when they are permitted to bathe, the place is crowded as 
the pool is only about ten feet square. It was a common 
sight to see old men and women, the halt and blind, or other- 
wise afflicted waiting patiently for a chance to immerse them- 
selves in the cooling water. The lowest fountain of all, 
for there are three, was fed from the drinking fountain, was 
used solely for the purpose of watering stock. 

The locality in years gone by must have been delightful, 
but now native shacks have sprung up all around it, de- 
tracting from its former elegance; the stumps are all that 
remain of the grand old trees that once cast their shade in 
the vicinity. A short avenue well shaded connected the 
fountain and the plaza, which latter occupied about three 
acres of ground. The charm had not disappeared from the 
plaza however, although the statuary was moss grown and 
tumbled down. The beautiful sago and royal palms arose 
above the abundant foliage of mango and other trees. 
The spot was an oasis where one could rest after walking 
through the sun baked streets. 

In the evening the arc lights lit up the walks where 
white gowned senoritas tripped gayly back and forth, 
laughing and talking, enlivening the place from the almost 
deserted appearance which it presented during the day. 

Aguadilla, I think, is by far the quaintest town on the 
island. Every nook and corner breathes of by-gone days. 
One can almost imagine one sees and hears a party of 
roistering buccaneers strutting down the street with gay 
trappings and boisterous shouts. 

Any native will point to you, for a monetary considera- 
tion, the exact spot of ground on which Columbus walked and 
the impecunious rascal might even go to the trouble of point- 
ing out to you the former discoverer's very footsteps, for an- 
other consideration, or even show you the spot where he had 
kneeled, when refreshing himself from the bubbling spring. 



ROUGHING II WITH THE REGULARS. 207 

The peon will swear that white is black for a bit of silver. 

The morning that we pulled out of Aguadilla the whole 
population, as it seemed to us, assembled to give us a hearty- 
send-off. The children capered around as we drew up in 
line along the road ready to mount, and the familiar 
"Americano mucha bueno" was fervently shouted into our 
ears. We trotted down the road waving our hats to the 
natives, who, in turn shouted and waved their arms, and 
we soon lost sight of these simple folk as we made a turn 
around a hill. 

We ascended a long winding road, and looking back- 
ward, could see the crowds below us dispersing, and 
going their several ways. The road continued on up a 
mountain for about six miles when we gained the top, the 
highest point for miles around, and the view was magnifi- 
cent. An unbroken plain, half a dozen miles in length 
and two or three miles in width, stretched away to the 
ocean beyond. 

The sugar and tobacco plantations looked so diminutive 
(from our elevation of two miles) that it seemed almost 
possible to jump from the middle of one plantation to the 
middle of another. 

The red brick chimneys of the sugar refineries, emitting 
threads of silvery smoke, looked like fire-crackers, and the 
laborers in the fields seemed to be moving specks, while the 
irrigating ditches, which had been dug cross- wise at inter- 
vals of every one hundred and fifty feet, gave a peculiar ap- 
pearance to the land. This splendid view was soon shut off 
as we crossed the summit and then descended the rough road 
on the other side of the mountain. All that day the scenes 
varied from crossing broad savannas then up steep moun- 
tain roads to within a short distance of the ocean, passing 
through pueblos and towns, where the natives watched us 
with wonderment as we clanked along the road. About 



208 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

four o'clock in the afternoon we arrived in Quebradilla, a 
town about two miles inland, situated on a high bluff over- 
looking the ocean. We had marched about twenty miles 
over fairly good roads. The everchanging superb scenery 
had attracted us to such an extent that it made us impa- 
tient to pass points, where a high hill or a mountain ob- 
structed the view, to gain that point as quickly as possible 
so that we might see what Nature had to offer in her next 
garden. Very often beautiful valleys and level plains were 
walled in where coffee and sugar plantations were hidden, 
and we were never disappointed in our quest for beautiful 
views. 

Several plantations had been burned to the ground by 
the "Black Hands" in the districts we had passed through 
that day. These ruins were the only blots on the fair 
country. They told a sad story all their own, perhaps a 
wife or sister outraged by these damnable rascals, and we 
troopers smiled grimly, vowing at the first opportunity we 
would take summary vengeance out of their yellow hides. 

CHAPTER XII. 

The town Quebradilla had a population of about one 
thousand. At the time of our arrival, some sort of a 
church festival was in progress. The natives were too busy 
at the gaming tables to give mnch attention to us until 
they found out that we had money, and then they welcomed 
us very hospitably, in fact giving us preference at the 
tables. The plaza was crowded with gamblers from sun- 
rise to sunset, some of the larger games continuing on 
through the night. 

Every morning, bright and early, the priest of the one 
church in town passed from table to table taking a few 
coins from each and depositing them in a large leather 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 209 

bag which he carried for the purpose. This was the 
license which the gamblers were compelled to pay to the 
church for the privilege of gambling. The alcalde would 
appear later and also take his rake-off from each table and 
indeed, one morning I saw this gentleman deliberately pick 
up a peso from a table and play it on the roulette wheel 
but luckily for the banker he lost. 

The church was just across the street from the plaza and 
from morning till night was crowded with women. The 
men were elsewhere, attending cock-fights perhaps, or gam- 
bling in some other fashion. The low, plaintive chant of 
te deums floated out through the doors and windows and 
mingled with the shouts of the gamblers and the barking 
of the confectionery venders causing a discordant noise all 
day long. 

I had a rather thrilling experience one morning while 
feeding my horse, the memory of which remained with me 
for man)' days, and even now I cannot recall the event 
without a shudder. We had been running short of hay 
and were obliged to feed the horses alternately with hay 
and grass. The grass was tied by the natives into sheaves 
weighing perhaps fifty pounds. The barracks which we 
occupied had formerly been used by some Spanish outfit. 
The building was shaped like a square U with a courtyard 
in the center, which we used for a kitchen and a general 
storage place for our saddles and other camp equippage. 
About twenty-five feet in the rear were the horse sheds. 
On the morning in question I lifted a sheaf of grass to my 
shoulder and had carried it half way across the courtyard 
when I felt something sticking in my neck, as if it might 
be a twig or piece of coarse grass from the sheaf. I drew 
up my shoulder thinking that whatever it was it would be 
dislodged by the motion. I continued on toward the horse 
sheds and after throwing down the grass raised my hand to 



210 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

my neck and grabbed what seemed to be a bunch of hair. 
With a spasmodic movement I knocked off the tarantula — 
for it was one of those insects, the bite of which is consid- 
ered by some authorities to be deadly — from my neck. It 
landed with a thump on the stone flagging, with its hairy 
legs as large around as a man's little finger, outstretched 
and its wicked e3 r es staring upward. It was as large 
around as a tea plate and one of the most repulsive crea- 
tures I ever saw. The legs commenced to move and as I 
thought that I had looked long enough at it I picked up a 
stone and killed the thing. In all probability if it had been 
'later in the day I would have been bitten, as the tarantula 
in the early morning is in a numb condition, caused by the 
chill night air and dampness. The bite is not considered 
deadly poisonous by the natives, who counteract it by 
drinking quantities of rum as an antidote. However, I 
should not care to risk either the bite or the rum. 

Our three days stay in Ouebradilla was not beneficial to 
either the slim pocket-books, or the good health of the 
troopers. The native gamblers succeeded in relieving some 
of us of our money, and the barracks were so full of lice 
and the sanitary arrangements so primitive, that we were 
heartily thankful when "boots and saddles" sounded one 
morning and we started on the road again. 

In the forenoon we arrived at Camuy, about eight miles 
distant. The town was already occupied by a company 
belonging to one of the immune regiments sent out from 
the States at that time, to garrison the points left vacant by 
the returning volunteer regiments in both Cuba and Puerto 
Rico. The temperament of these fellows was entirely 
different from the volunteers with whom we had come in 
contact both in Tampa and Puerto Rico, inasmuch that 
they were as " tough as they make 'em." 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 211 

The National Guard regiments are, as a class, composed 
of professional men, clerks and mechanics, and are all reput- 
able citizens. The men are well acquainted with each other 
and from the colonel down to the greenest recruit there exists 
a sentiment of good fellowship. Perhaps the captain of 
some company is the "chum" of a private in the same 
company and so on through the whole regiment. They 
know one another in both a business and a social way. 
They are congenial, and it is only during drill or the one 
week in camp when the commissioned officer receives the 
salutations which are his due. 

But in general, the regiments which were recruited from 
every part of the country after peace had been declared and 
styled " United States Volunteers," were composed of riff- 
raff from the larger cities. Men "who were the first to go 
— and see the boys off" when the first shots were fired, and 
who, after the war was over, enlisted because the}' were 
assured of two or three years of comparative laziness. 

Before we had been in this town twenty-four hours we 
found all this out for ourselves. Consequently we did not 
associate with these quarrelsome fellows, who were as 
scrappy among themselves as they were toward the natives, 
and as they tried to be toward us. It was not because we 
feared them that we held aloof, on the contrar}' it would 
have been a pleasure indeed to have knocked some common 
sense and decency into them, but they were such a sloppy, 
motley crew that, we just ignored them and kept to our- 
selves. 

These doughboys occupied a frame building as a bar- 
racks, while we took possession of the regular Spanish bar- 
racks. We went to work immediately with scrubbing 
brushes, soap and water, and cleaned the floors and walls. 
The court-yard was " policed up " of all the garbage and 
other rubbish and in a few days the place presented an ap- 



312 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

pearance such as it had never known during the Spanish 
regime. We settled down to a life of ease and enjoyment 
for weeks to come. 

The trip from Las Marias along the north-western shore 
of the island had been almost like a holiday excursion and 
we had consumed almost three weeks in covering about 
seventy miles. The distance from L,as Marias to Camuy 
across the mountain by bridle path is about twenty-five 
miles. I think, however, that the round-about way was 
taken through the sea-coast towns more as an object lesson 
to the natives, that they might know what an American sol- 
dier was like, than with any intention to give us a holiday. 

The war had not lasted long enough for this portion of the 
country to have been invaded. Judging from the enthusias- 
tic demonstrations which greeted us everywhere we were 
satisfied that the American soldier was " mucha bueno" and 
that the natives were overjoyed to be released from Span- 
ish rule. 

Camuy was the terminus of the railroad which connected 
with San Juan about sixty miles distant. The prospective 
tourist in Puerto Rico must not expect the luxurious 
coaches which the average railroad in the States provides 
for its passengers. This bit of road, from Camuy to San 
Juan is the longest in the island. If you wish to travel 
from point to point, as you must do in order to enjoy the 
beauty of the scenery, the rickety, old-fashioned, four- 
wheeled carriages, drawn by two scrawny native ponies, and 
driven by a native employed by the railroad company, will 
meet ) r ou at the terminus of your trip and carry you to where 
the railroad begins again. 

This driver is as silent as the grave until he is liberally 
tipped, and then, like all the natives, the sight of silver 
makes him garrulous, and he will show you the prettiest 
views and point out the different spots of interest along the 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 213 

route. As riding in one of these vehicles is not the 
most pleasant mode of travelling you will welcome even 
his unnecessary babble with pleasure. After riding fifty 
or sixty miles you alight from the carriage with a sigh of 
relief, and bid the driver adieu. All the time you are 
thinking that the jehu has buncoed you out of the couple 
of pesos, which he has taken from you in such a polite man- 
ner that you wonder how the beggar ever managed it. 

You will then buy your ticket at the station of the ticket 
seller, who is cooped up in a little box on the platform, and 
wait for the train which is scheduled to run twice daily, 
early in the morning and in the evening. First, second 
and third class tickets are for sale. The only difference 
between the second and third class seats is that those of the 
second class are located in the first class cars, and are noth- 
ing more than rough wood seats like those in the third 
class cars. Pay for a first class seat which is upholstered, 
rather roughly to be sure, but before the journey is ended 
you will be glad to have had even that scant amount of 
comfort. 

The road is constructed on the narrow gauge principle. 
The rails are about two feet apart and the cars are almost 
as wide as an American coach. The swaying and bump- 
ing of the cars are apt to throw you headlong on to the 
next seat, but if you have bought a first class ticket you 
will land on the cushions, thereby averting a possible frac- 
ture of some of your bones. 

The military road, connecting San Juan and Ponce, is an 
excellent highway and an ideal bicycle road. It is hilly to 
be sure, and in some places mountainous, but there is 
always one consolation in climbing a hill, if you have to 
push your wheel up by hand there is always the coast 
down on the other side. This road is about eighty miles 
in length and follows a zig-zag course, and the scenery, 



214 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

like that on every other part of the island, is superb. 

Of course the eating is not of the best, except in the 
larger cities, where good restaurants can be found — but 
even the best places have a garlicky odor which is not in- 
viting to the fastidiously inclined. 

Puerto Rico will, in a few years, be an ideal winter 
resort. The island is now a paradise, and when American 
customs, capital and cookery are introduced, and large 
hotels erected, it will be flooded with tourists. Just as the 
Bahamas are crowded every year so will Porto Rico be a 
haven of rest for those who desire quietness and ideal 
scenery. 

The Rio Camuy was but a couple of hundred yards from 
town and emptied into the ocean over a dam, thereby keep- 
ing its waters fresh. The water was remarkably clear and 
cool as it rushed down from the mountains, and many were 
the good swims we and our horses had in it " a la Nep- 
tune. ' ' 

Joe one afternoon gave an unintentional exhibition of 
good horsemanship, when we were starting out to water 
the horses. The monkey drill in Tampa stood him in good 
stead, otherwise he might have been severely injured. His 
horse, which had formerely belonged to the artillery, and 
been assigned to him in Ponce, his own having died on the 
transport, had been sick during the whole campaign. The 
poor brute was troubled with sore eyes and swollen feet, 
but with it all, was so meek and gentle that we named it 
"the camel." Joe usually walked to water, firstly, because 
"the camel" had a razor back, second, because Joe was so 
attached to the animal, that he would not unnecessarily 
burden him. On this afternoon, Sergeant Hunting asked 
Joe to take his horse to water. In compliance with the 
request he jumped on to Hunting's big charger, but no 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 215 

sooner was he settled than the brute commenced to dance 
and rear. 

Joe held on to the halter strap with his left hand and 
with his right grasped the halter strap of his own horse. 
Hunting's horse pulled one way and "the camel" the 
other, and poor Joe was in danger of severing connections 
with himself, then and there. "The Camel," being the 
weaker of the two, finally succumbed to the superior pull- 
ing tactics of the other horse and followed along meekly, 
but Hunting's horse tore through the crowd of troopers, 
some mounted, others just getting ready to mount, scatter- 
ing everything right and left in his path, unhorsing several 
men and causing great commotion. We always rode our 
horses to water bare-back and without bridles, simply re- 
sorting to a half hitch (an old trick) of the halter strap on 
the horse's nose, thereby stopping his breathing apparatus 
from working should he chance to bolt. This trick usually 
proved effectual and prevented many a man from being 
thrown. 

Joe dropped his own horse and leaned over to encircle 
the nose of Hunting's horse with the halter strap, but as 
quick as a flash the brute understood the trick, and stretch- 
ing his neck he was off down the road at a terrific pace. 
Sticking to him under these conditions did not require 
great skill although many people who perhaps pride them- 
selves on their horsemanship might have found it so. The 
brute kept on with his mad pace, scattering a train of pack 
ponies coming up the road and continuing on to the river, 
never stopping until he was half submerged in the river 
with Joe still on him. The horse drank his fill and was 
ready for another race back to the picket line, but Joe had 
seen his chance to half hitch the animal's nose and by the 
time we were ready to return to the picket line Joe had him 
in control. 



216 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

Bouncer ran away with me in like fashion one afternoon 
several daj's later, when returning from water. He wanted 
to trot, but the day being hot and his back not having 
enough rotundity for any such motion, I did not wish him 
to do so. He was an unusually obstinate horse when he 
wanted his own way, and he had a hard mouth which made 
him very difficult to hold in a charge, but I could always 
manage him with the curb. With the halter he knew the 
disadvantage I was under, so when I flipped him over the 
ears with the end of the strap he showed his temper by 
snorting with disapproval and bolting. I was in the rear 
of the line and as Bouncer passed the others like a shot 
the fellows yelled out, "Hi, hi, there, Oily, give it to him." 
Which I very willingly did because I could not help myself, 
and we flew along for a few moments, when Bouncer swer- 
ved to the right and almost collided with the cook tent, 
jumping over the guy ropes and upsetting a pile of kettles 
and pans. About a dozen feet from the picket line he 
stopped in his mad career so suddenly that I would have 
been thrown over his head if I had not prepared myself for 
the shock by firmly grasping his mane ; as it was, I was 
thrown up on his neck. He walked very sedately to the 
line and I dismounted and tied him to it. He turned his 
head as if looking for an explanation and I took his head 
in my hands and gazed into his big, expressive brown eyes. 
I thought I saw a grieved look that I had treated him thus, 
for it was the first time I had ever touched him with a 
whip. I never used the spurs on him as all I had to say 
was, "Catch him, old fellow," in an undertone, and he 
would lope until I drew rein again. 

I felt ashamed of myself and offered an apology by tell- 
ing him that it was only in fun. I bent down his head so 
that I could whisper in his ear the one word, "Sugar." 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 217 

He almost smiled on me, I thought, and accepted my peace 
offering with a nod. 

Sergeant Lutz's horse, Billie, which I have mentioned in 
the preceding pages, suddenly toppled over in the road one 
day while the Sergeant was riding him from Ouebradilla, 
and died without any warning whatsoever. The horse had 
been sick, but as w 7 e all thought, was rapidly getting w T ell 
of his ailment — a belly ache. Every trooper felt keenly 
the loss of this intelligent creature, and we all had some 
kind and sympathetic word to say to Lutz who was heart- 
broken over his loss. 

When Billie had been sick, a few days prior to his death 
Lutz had nursed and watched him tenderly, even arising 
during the night to caress him and see that he lacked no 
comfort. He had trained Billie, taught him all his tricks 
and talked to him just as he would to a dear friend and 
Billie understood every w r ord I have no doubt. He would 
paw the ground when Lutz petted him and lay his head on 
the sergeant's shoulder. He w r ould whinny loudly when 
Lutz tantalized him by holding temptingly, just within 
reach of his nose, and show his teeth and nip playfully 
when Lutz teased him too much. If ever a man grieved 
for a good faithful horse it w 7 as Lutz. I do not believe that 
he ever fully recovered from it, for he would often mention 
Billie' s name with a sigh of grief, just as one might that 
of a dear departed friend. 

A few months later Sergeant Lutz was honorably dis- 
charged from the service through the good offices of Captain 
Macomb and other influential friends, and was appointed 
a deputy marshall in the city of Mayaguez, a position 
which he still holds. His ambition w r as to become a com- 
missioned officer in the army, and his desire would have 
been gratified had it not been for a technicality which pre- 
vented him from gaining a second lieutenancy, viz: he was 



218 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

ten years over age, according to the records of the War 
Department, while he really was three or four years under 
the limit. It seems that' when he enlisted it was contrary 
to the wishes of his guardian, and in order to be accepted, 
he gave his age as twenty-one, when he was only eighteen. 
Being of large physique and much older in appearance than 
the average youth of eighteen he was accepted without any 
question. 

The service has lost a splendid officer. 

Every town, no matter how small, boasts a cock-pit 
where the national sport was indulged in every Sunday. 
The Puerto Rican is an inveterate gambler. He will bet 
all of his hard earned money, his shack, his wife, even his 
soul on the turn of a card or a favorite game-cock. He is 
a game, or I might say a philosophical loser, for he will be 
consoled when the cards, or whatever he may be betting 
on, do not favor him by continuing on with his play, trust- 
ing to fickle Dame Fortune for a lucky strike on the next 
bet. 

I never saw a native bet more than a peso (fifty cents 
American money) in all the time I was on the island, and 
usually it was no more than from one to ten ceutavos. 

Starting on Saturday afternoon the natives begin to flock 
into the towns from the surrounding plantations, very often 
tramping ten, fifteen or twenty miles, just for the chance to 
bet and lose their paltry earnings of the week, a peso or 
two. A peso looks as large to them as a twenty dollar bill 
does to the average American citizen. 

Sunday is the Puerto Rican holiday, holy-day and mar- 
ket day, as it is in ever}'- Spanish-American country. 

Not every native owns a game cock, but those who do 
are looked on as "lucky devils," by their less fortunate 
brethren. Each and ever}' one of them has a following of 
his very own, just as much as have the owners of racing 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 219 

stables. If a native chances to own a chicken which has 
survived a dozen or more battles and has been victorious, 
his record as a rare sport is established, but he is at the 
same time obliged to give his opponent heavy odds. The 
betting scale is arranged by the referee and time-keepers 
who officiate at every game. 

The cock-pits are built on the bleacher principle with 
from six to ten rows of seats. The seating capacity is ac- 
cording to the size of the town, some seating from fifty to 
one hundred. The larger cities like San Juan, Ponce and 
Mayaguez had two or more pits where the cocking mains 
were carried on extensively. The price of admission was 
usually a couple of centavos, We troopers never paid any- 
thing, but just walked by the box-office, and if the native 
made any objection would simply say, " Collect from Uncle 
Sam." The reference was sufficient. 

Imagine the interior of one of these structures. The 
fowls, which are tied to stakes or confined in wooden cages 
under the seats, are crowing and clucking. The tiers of 
seats are filled with a howling mass of perspiring Puerto 
Rican humanity, with a sprinkling of laughing soldiers, who 
pose more as disinterested spectators, though the}' may have 
a few centavos up on the coming fight just to make it inter- 
esting. Everything being in readiness, and the prelimi- 
naries and bets satisfactorily arranged by the two officials 
between the owners of the two combatants, the fight is on. 
The fowls having been weighed, and their neck, wings and 
tail feathers "clipped and spurs sharpened, present a fierce 
appearance. 

The owners advance to the middle of the ring, which is 
about ten feet in diameter, each grasping his chicken in 
both hands. The birds are allowed to peck at each other 
for a moment to test their fighting mood, and if both are 
eager for the fray they are dropped to the ground. Occa- 



220 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

ionally a chicken will not fight, and then the match is 
declared " off ; " but this is very rare. 

Both fowls immediately strike an aggressive attitude, 
with necks outstretched, almost to the ground, swaying to 
and fro, their beaks almost touching. Suddenly they 
spring into the air each trying to pierce the other with his 
spurs. After half a dozen attempts they stop this mode of 
attack for it is seldom that a chicken is caught napping in 
this manner at the outset. They both settle down to peck- 
ing each other's eyes, till one or the other, or perhaps both, 
have an eye gouged out. Then they stagger around the 
ring rushing blindly at each other, first one on top, then 
the other, pecking and jabbing until both are so exhausted 
that they can barely stand. This completes the first round 
and has lasted between five and ten minutes. 

They are rubbed down, the blood is washed from the 
wounded heads, and if the skin around the eyes has been 
lacerated during the encounter, and is hanging so as to 
obstruct the sight, the particles are trimmed off with a pair 
of shears. This alone is a repulsive sight. But the filthy 
habit the natives have of biting the chicken's neck, and 
running their mouths along the feathers to circulate the 
blood, and then resuscitating the crippled bird by taking a 
mouthful of water and forcing it down the throat by firmly 
holding the parted beak between the teeth, was positively 
sickening. 

The chickens are again placed in the ring, partly refresh- 
ed by the rubbing and rest, and renew their efforts to place 
each other " hors de combat." As long as they have any 
breath left the} 7 will fight savagely, but when the lance-like 
blows are showered so unmercifully, one or the other must 
roll over, and even in this position they will summon all 
their spent strength for at least one more jab. Of course 
the chicken which falls over first is declared whipped, but 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 221 

if both lie down from sheer exhaustion they are grabbed 
by their owners and rubbed down again. A line is then 
drawn across the ring and the two chickens are placed one 
either side of it. They stand wobbling on their weak legs, 
pecking blindly, and the chicken which is knocked out of 
his own territory over the line, is beaten. 

All this time the yelling of a hundred natives betting on 
their favorites, was like bedlam let loose. It was impossible 
to hear one's self think, and in all probability not more than 
five pesos had changed hands. Take it all in all, cock 
fighting did not appeal to the American soldier who would 
rather witness a good, fair, pugilistic encounter, and who 
once were very near to having their tastes gratified. 

At one of the mains I made a small bet with one of the 
immuues, just to keep up an interest in it. The fight was 
declared a draw, and the immune, an immense fellow, 
grabbed the stakes and pocketed the whole amount. While 
I did not care about the few centavos, I did object to his 
unsportsmanlike behavior. Before I had a chance to settle 
the matter for myself, Joe came dancing up like a small 
tornado, with doubled fists, rage in his eye and bitterness 
on his tongue. 

" L,et me get at him," he shouted. "He's my meat," 
etc. 

We grabbed Joe and the immune sneaked off saying that 
the little Jew was too small for him to fight. This put Joe 
into a tearing rage and we had all we could do to hold him. 
The affair was assuming a serious aspect, for the dough- 
boys were getting excited and the troopers were already in 
that state, so we coaxed Joe to leave the ring whence he 
was followed by the admiring troopers. This was the 
beginning of ill feeling between the two branches of the 
service, and we were heartily glad when they were detailed 
to guard some of the plantations in that vicinity. 



222 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

Joe was not of a scrappy turn of mind, but, was on the 
contrary, amicable and exceedingly popular with the troop- 
ers who had a thorough respect for him. While in Tampa 
several of the boys, looking upon him as a "little Jew 
tailor," had tried to impose on him, but when he got 
through with each and every one of them, they estimated 
his fighting qualities at their true value. He pummelled 
them so unmercifully, and by his aggressive tactics, made 
them cry quarter so quickly that a more surprised lot of 
men never drew breath, for they had not expected that this 
quiet, unobtrusive fellow could be such a Tartar when the 
occasion demanded it. 

I do not believe there was a man in the troop for whom 
he had not done some favor, either the loan of money or a 
button sewed on here, or a tear mended there, for Joe was 
as handy with his needle as with his fists. A thorough 
comrade was Joe, which nobody can deny. And so goes 
the world. Some can command respect by their dignified 
bearing, others by their social or business positions, while 
still others are obliged to go in and win it among their 
fellows by sheer pluck, as did my buukie, Joe Siegel. 

One of the majors of this "immune outfit" had his 
headquarters in town, and was the ranking — or as we 
called him, the rankest— officer. He had undoubtedly 
received his commission through influence and not by meri- 
torious service, for everything about him — from the top of his 
spotless campaign hat to the soles of his brand new riding 
boots— bespoke an utter unfamiliarity with things military. 
He was quite boyish in looks and was certainly not more 
than thirty years old. 

It was generally surmised among the boys that it was 
very galling to Captain Macomb to recognize this officer as 
his superior. One was "green," entirely ignorant of his 
profession and incapable of drilling a company, while the 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 223 

other was a seasoned veteran, a professional soldier of the 
first quality. 

An amusing incident occurred at drill one Saturday 
morning causing a general smile which was excused by 
even the Captain ; indeed, he could not keep his own face 
straight. The sky had been overcast all morning and 
Capt. Macomb, not wishing to expose the fire arms of the 
troopers to the rain without sufficient cause, had delayed 
inspection. About ten A. m. the sky cleared a bit and the 
Captain taking advantage of it, had the assembly sounded. 
The troop was lined up dismounted, facing the plaza, and 
the roll called, when from the other side of the plaza, this 
doughboy major appeared, holding an umbrella over his 
own head and over the diminutive body of the Puerto 
Rican scout, Friday. The duo sauntered along the road 
arm in arm on their round of inspection, and when they 
had approached to within a few yards of Capt. Macomb, 
the major handed the umbrella to Friday, but still kept 
under its friendly shade, so we concluded that it was the 
sun and not the rain of which he was so afraid. 

Every trooper had the makings of a grin on his counten- 
ance, aud Capt. Macomb actually passed his hand over his 
face to hide his mirth. His expression then took an awful 
grimness, made all the more so by his efforts to restrain the 
smile which seemed bound to appear, for his face twitched 
as if it hurt him sorely. He saluted his superior and for a 
few moments put us through a drill, the major still stand- 
ing in the shade. When we were dismissed every man 
made himself scarce so as to shout aud punch each other in 
the ribs. 

Capt. Macomb in his report that day, probably — I will 
not say for sure — recorded that Troop "A" Fifth U. S. 
Cavalry, Capt. Macomb commanding, was inspected by 
Major of the Immunes, with an umbrella over his 



224 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

head. Major 's name has perhaps been written on 

the records of the War Department as the only officer who 
ever inspected any outfit with an umbrella, he had also ac- 
quired another soubriquet, that of "Umbrella Charlie." 

There remains but little more for me to relate. I put in an 
application for my discharge, in accordance with the provi- 
sions of the Hull Bill, in Las Marias, the latter part of Sep- 
tember, as had several other "war volunteers" in the 
troop. November 14th, just five months after the date of 
my enlistment in New York, Sergeant Drake informed me 
that I was honorably discharged from the U. S. Regular 
Army and that my discharge would be ready for me that 
afternoon. 

I packed my roll and the following morning bade fare- 
well to my comrades, being anxious to make San Juan that 
evening, as I had been told that a transport was there 
under orders to leave very soon. Joe helped me to the 
station with my baggage, and after embracing each other 
affectionately, with hasty assurances that we would soon be 
together again in New York, and with many promises to 
write, I jumped aboard the train. As I stuck my head out 
of the window to wave a last farewell to Joe, I heard him 
shout, "Don't forget the toast, Bill." Joe had proposed 
that we should drink a toast to each other on Thanks- 
giving Day , and it was kept to the letter. 

Upon my arrival in San Juan that evening, I hustled 
around to find a room and then lounged about town. I 
presented my " finals " at headquarters in the Governor's 
Palace the following morning and had them indorsed by 

M a j or a former officer in the Fifth Cavalry. After 

inquiring as to the possibility of obtaining passage on a 
transport to the States, I was informed that one had left 
the previous evening, and another was not expected for two 
weeks. I did not wish to wait such a time, so I went to 



ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 225 

the office of the Red " D " Line of steamships that ply be- 
tween New York and Caracas, and touch at San Juan, 
Ponce and Mayaguez. I learned that the steamship 
" Caracas" would leave that day at one p. m., and it was 
then twelve o'clock. I hurried back to the Palace and ex- 
plained my predicament to Major who, as there was 

no paymaster in town, filled out an order for my passage, 
and I was just in time to pile my luggage into the queer 
little sail boats that convey the passengers to and fro from 
the steamers in the bay, as the "Caracas" weighed anchor. 

At last I was homeward bound, with discharge papers 
marked "excellent" and with an order for money enough 
in my pocket to keep the wolf from the door for a month 
to come. 

About five days later I arrived in New York by the way 
of Brooklyn as the Red "D" liners dock there. I was 
standing on the forward deck of a ferry boat quietly read- 
ing a newspaper, when one of those curious individuals 
whom one can find the world over accosted me. He was 
an austere looking human being with thin mouth, long 
peaked nose and nose glasses. 

"Where haveyou been?" he inquired. 

"Porto Rico," I replied. 

"Humph!" he sneered, "you fellows didn't see any 
fighting. ' ' 

Several inquisitive ones edged up closer to hear the con- 
versation. I knew that I had come across a crank so I 
thought it best to humor him although in the innermost 
recesses of my heart I longed to tweak his nose which pro- 
truded temptingly, but instead I looked at him inquiringly, 
folded my paper, yawned and said sleepily: 

"Well, old man, we saw as much fighting as you did 
anyway," I averted my eyes and gazed across the bay and 
continued: 



■116 ROUGHING IT WITH THE REGULARS. 

" Perhaps you were deaf and did not hear the explosion 
down in Havana Harbor. Possibly you may have been 
rejected for this physical defect you know? " 

I turned around but my would be inquisitor had fled. 
The boat came into the slip and once again I was in New 
York. 

One lias to be absent from his native city to appreciate 
it, and as I walked up Broadway I felt an insane desire 
to shake hands with everybody. 

And so my story ends. Perhaps the kind reader has 
gained some knowledge of the Uuited States Regular in 
these pages of which he was before ignorant. Perhaps my 
reminiscences have not been as interesting as many another 
might have made them, but I have striven to amuse and to 
give a truthful history of my experiences with Troop " A " 
Fifth U. S. Cavalry, and I sincerely hope that I have 
succeeded. 







1902 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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